EarthNet
by Pyrestrike
Summary: [Formerly Dual Realms: Paradox] 12 years after the WWW and Gospel incidents, Lan must face the demons of his past to overcome the difficulties of his future... [Auth Note: Some parts should be M rated they are clearly marked warned in the story]
1. Paradox :: Chapter 1: Unwilling Ally

**EarthNet: Paradox**

A Megaman: Battle Network fanfiction by Pyrestrike

Warning: This is not the normal, light-hearted material that many of you are  
used to seeing from other fanfiction writers and from Megaman: Battle  
Network. This fanfiction contains mature themes, vulgar language, extreme  
violence and crude sexuality. This is not recommended for younger viewers.

The "-----"'s means that there is a scene change or a big change in  
perspective.

The ""'s means that there's a small scene change, a change within the  
current scene or a small change in perspective.

Disclaimer: Megaman, Megaman: Battle Network, and related characters are  
copyrighted under Capcom. I do not own nor attempt to abuse these  
copyrights. And if you see any characters I made up myself, consider them  
copyrighted under me ;).

- Begin -

Prelude:

Klev'trath sat down on the floor it could not see, contemplating its current  
situation. The blackness that surrounded it was no welcoming site, though it  
stretched for infinite distances. The home of evil normally was darkness. This  
darkness though, was one created just for him. The Abattoir, it had been called.  
It was some foreign tongue's name for "slaughterhouse."

Still, the daemon knew that this bleak dungeon was nothing more than a leash, a  
leash that could be stretched. It grumbled to himself impatiently as it awaited  
for news of the relic from one of it resources, a "fellow" daemon, though it  
knew that it kind rarely ever allied. Its thoughts constantly returned to the  
relic, or rather the power it could bring him.

Lervingthis was a powerful rune indeed. It was created by the essence of the  
twelve Gorgon Goddesses, forged into the very being of evil. In its physical  
form, it resembled nothing but a mere fragment of obsidian, a piece of black  
rock. Yet, its mystical powers were bested by none in all the universes.  
Lervingthis had a life of its own, beckoning the evil in even the holiest of  
hearts.

Klev'trath had seen it many times before. Nearly every great war involved the  
black relic. How it wished to possess it! It could just imagine it, the very  
real, limitless power flowing in its body as it sank its claws into the hearts  
of every ruler and crowned himself as king. "Did you find it, Velznoff? What  
news do you bring?" it asked as it saw its ally approaching it.

Velznoff shook its head no, maintaining its distance from Klev'trath. It was a  
much lesser daemon, its strength nowhere near as strong as Klev'trath. Its many-  
faceted scales jingled due to its trembling. "I went to the area you described,  
but Matlineo already had Lervingthis in his hands."

Klev'trath growled at the mention of the goodly wizard; Matlineo was the one who  
created the Abattoir, the one who sent Klev'trath into captivity. "Do you know  
what happened to Lervingthis?" it asked greedily.

"I saw him tap into some dimensional portals. I believe the damned wizard sent  
it back to the desolate universe, the Material Plane. I think he sent it to the  
planet Earth, the waste planet, once more. He said something about some  
creatures named humans that could toy with-" Velznoff stopped as it felt its own  
blood oozing from its abdomen.

"I have heard enough," Klev'trath hissed as it pulled its bloody claws out of  
Velznoff. It was angry that the wizard put the relic out of its reach, but its  
scales tingled in ecstasy. "It will be interesting to see how these humans react  
to you, my dear Lervingthis," it said as it cast a dweomer on the body of  
Velznoff. Klev'trath's fellow daemon glowed brightly as it formed a window,  
showing it the universe where most inter-dimensional trash went, the Material  
Plane.

It remembered how the relic had started the so-called World War Two on the  
Earth. Lervingthis supposed seized the power of a dictator at the time. Smiling  
to himself at the new, more devious things the relic would to the humans,  
Klev'trath laid on its back comfortably as it watched Lervingthis plummet into  
the planet called Earth to wreak havoc once again.  
-----  
Lervingthis landed in the cold concrete floor of an old alleyway. It immediately  
sensed the living beings in the universe. It felt the familiar heartbeats of  
humans all around it, all waiting to be tainted. It remembered all the times it  
instigated the darkest parts of history; several universes had been erased from  
existence due to the potent relic. It had waited many eons to be created and  
waited many more between each user. It gleamed its black, empty surface. It  
could wait a while longer.

-------------------------------------------

Chapter One: Unwilling Ally

Shin Arashi gazed out of her crystalline mansion, standing in the balcony that  
overlooked the endless forest behind her abode. She relished these morning  
moments, but she knew they would not last. She had a lot of work to do, and  
today was the beginning of the project that would place her above all people in  
existence.

She smiled to herself, letting the air catch her long red hair. She once again  
reminded herself of what had got her to where she was today. She was once a  
homeless girl, one of a broken home and nowhere to go. Now she was one of the  
richest people of all time.

She slipped out of her nightgown and into a sleek robe that exemplified the  
beauty of the twenty-year old. It was nearly time to begin her conquest to rid  
the world of those who had damaged her-and damaged others. She admired the  
glistening, soul-piercing black gem around her neck. Watching as the relic  
gleamed in response she said quietly, "It is time, Lervingthis."

-----

Lan Hikari awoke, the glare of dawn splashing its brightness upon the country of  
Electopia. He detested this moment for all his life; when he was younger, he  
hated waking up for school, but no he hated the cruel reminder it gave him  
whenever he arose.

The world, decimated by the last Netcrime wave, was at its end. The war between  
the criminals and the NetBattlers, the international police organization, nearly  
every major city and settlement was destroyed, leaving the Earth nothing but  
forests and small towns. Lan sighed, somewhat disappointed, somewhat relieved  
that he wasn't killed during the night by a virus like a Metool.

"Finally up?"

Lan turned to see Megaman, his brother, friend and Navi, approaching with their  
canteens. Actually, he couldn't really call Megaman his Navi anymore, since  
Navis where just programs that were living inside computers. Now the Navis of  
years before were living amongst humans, living and breathing.

Lan felt a familiar amazement cross his mind. He remembered when Megaman was  
nothing but a virtual entity that he watched on the monitor and his PET, or  
personal terminal. The world he lived in now was all possible due to the  
creation of the EarthNet, the melding of the Earth and Internet. It was created  
by the workers at SciLabs; his father was the head researcher.

Lan's heart darkened at the thought of his father, who was killed during the  
first successful Netcrime attack since the creation of the EarthNet. His mother  
was with his father during the attack. The two of them were at a party when an  
large, yet amazingly quick, blue and black Navi attacked; they had no chance  
against it.

His thoughts unexpectedly shifted to his greatest sin. He and Mayl had a child,  
and the night that it was born, the hospital was attacked by the same Navi that  
killed his parents. Lan hadn't been there to be with Mayl because of his duties  
as the leader of the NetBattlers at the time. He found out that the Navi was  
there and went in, thinking nothing but vengeance. He only had a service  
revolver, and he shot nine out of ten bullets. His last shot missed its target,  
but found the fire extinguisher of the baby nursery instead. It exploded,  
killing every baby in the nursery, including his own. He disappeared after that,  
leaving ACDC and his position as the leader of the NetBattlers.

Clearing his head of the dark memories, he got up and packed up his stuff. He and Megaman were  
pretty much nomads now, traveling from the remaining settlements to see if  
anyone needed any help.

"Let's go," Lan said.

-----

Lervingthis felt the most unholy desire inside its present keeper. Shin wanted  
to get back at the people who bade her wrong. That dark energy was what it  
thrived upon. When it first met Shin, it had just landed. She was the perfect  
target, one whose soul was to torn to give any resistance to the evil rune.

Still, Lervingthis could not dictate its keeper's decisions. It only enticed  
them; the final choice belonged to the keeper. Its first act of evil with Shin,  
after opening a time rift to allow her to mature from a seven-year-old to a  
twenty-year-old, was bringing death upon her foster parents, Sansui and Gale  
Arashi, the ones who cast her out on the street. After a number of acts of  
personal vengeance, the relic coerced Shin into getting rid of all the people  
who hurt others. It gave her everything she ever wanted, from material to  
control of her emotions. It created its citadel, Shin's mansion, on its own. The  
power it knew was endless.

Now that it had some definite control of her, it was time to create the army. By  
showing that she had power, she-Lervingthis actually-would be able to rule the  
world and make sure those people never again raised a hand against another.  
Lervingthis did not care whether if the world was at peace, as long as it had  
all the power.

Shin stepped into the office of the leader of the NetBattlers, the international  
police organization that dealt with the criminal Navis and viruses. "Hello,  
Eugene," she said seductively as the leader turned around. Eugene Chaud was  
sitting in his large executive's chair, waiting for Shin. She grinned; she had  
found the first general of her army. Lervingthis gleamed in delight as well; now

it could begin its destruction, starting with the Shin's true parents.

-----

Protoman could not go any further. His crimson armor was damaged and his left  
arm, the arm that held his beam sword, was damaged as well. He wouldn't be able  
to fend off even the smallest virus.

A sudden rustle in the bushes behind him piqued his interest. He turned around,  
noticing a white cap with a red cross on it. Invisibles. He should have known he  
would be followed. He stopped moving for a moment and let his scanners do some  
data gathering. He noticed another cap floating by. That was enough information;  
he was surrounded.

Still, he broke off in as fast of a run as he could, limping all the way. He was  
suddenly knocked down by a blue and black shadow that bounced off him. Protoman  
had never heard of gray Invisibles before. What could that possibly mean? He  
suddenly understood.

The cloaked shadow hovered over him, crouched on a tree branch. The white caps  
began to encircle the downed crimson Navi, and revealed the rest of their  
bodies: purple, ghost-like bodies with a skull mask over their faces. The  
legless, floating viruses began to dance around him. A sphere of gray energy  
began to charge over him. He knew it would delete him from the inside out. It  
was what he feared most.

Before any pain befell upon him, though, a light blue blast of energy  
illuminated the forest. Someone, he could not tell whom, had destroyed the  
Sphere of Fear and sent the Invisibles flying. Protoman took the diversion to  
get away as fast as possible. Breaking off in a blind run, he only ran a few  
more feet before the shadow shot him while it flew back into the night.

-----

"Go get Protoman!" Lan shouted as he ran up to an Invisible and slashed it with  
his double-halberd. The staff with twin energy axe blades on each end tore  
through the virus, eliminating it immediately.

"Alright," Megaman replied.

Lan spun around, his blue jacket swirling, and used the spear ends of his  
halberd to puncture another virus. He faced the rest of the Invisibles  
menacingly. They quickly receded their spectral bodies from view and hovered  
away as fast as they could.

Lan grinned to himself. He disabled the four blades to his halberd and retracted  
the extending poles until all it that was left was a small handle. He pocketed  
it inside his jacket, which he pulled closer to him; the frosty breeze bit his  
skin and tossed his loose hair back. "I'll go get some firewood. Then I'll use a  
repair chip to heal up Protoman," he told Megaman after they entered a clearing.

"You know that won't help," Megaman said, cradling Protoman. Megaman's former  
NetBattler partner was out cold. "His armor's too damaged, and his blade arm  
isn't going to function unless we find a Navi doc."

Lan stared at the direction of the nearest town's gates. It was the last place  
he ever wanted to be, even if it was only a ten-minute walk away. "We aren't  
going in there."

"Protoman was shot by someone-although I may have a guess to who-, Lan. I don't  
see why we-"

"You know very well why not!" Lan shouted, a sudden anger sprouting from him.  
The rage had escaped him whenever he referred to the nearby town-or its  
citizens.

"It's been seven years since then. Don't you think there's a time when  
everything's dropped?" Megaman asked. He wasn't swayed by the way Lan was  
acting.

Lan shifted uncomfortably. He hated it when Megaman talked this way. "Something  
that awful is never forgiven," he replied, trying to abate his anger. There was  
no way he'd ever be able to say explain.

"You didn't lay eyes on her since that day, Lan. You don't know if everyone  
despises you or not," Megaman said softly. He must have pervaded through Lan's  
mind again.

"Do you think she would want me to?" Lan asked angrily.

"There's only one way to find out." Megaman pointed toward the town's gates, the  
barrier to ACDC Town. The place Lan dreaded most. "If you don't go up there, I  
will. You may not feel any reason to, but I do: Roll's in there. And we have  
Protoman here who is going to need help. Professional help."

"Do you think they'd let a NetBattler Navi in?" Lan countered.

Megaman nodded confidently. "I'm sure they've heard the rumors."

Eugene, Protoman's operator, always held Protoman as a prized tool, ruling with  
an iron fist. From what Lan- everyone for that matter- had heard through the  
rumors, though, Protoman was beginning to get irritated at Eugene's orders and  
was rebelling. Lan somberly turned to the gates of ACDC. "I guess we have no  
choice but to ring Hell's Bells."

-----

Mayl Sakurai watched Lan and Megaman from a distance, on the gates of ACDC Town.  
She wondered what they were doing so close to here, but she kept her eyes  
peeled. She didn't trust Lan, despite all the talk about the savior of countless  
towns. The two of them shared a childhood and adolescence together, and during  
those times she saw an inner change that she couldn't dismiss. She had to  
protect the town, from the Netcriminals to NetBattlers to even Lan.

"They're really out there, aren't they?" Roll asked, climbing over the ladder to  
the watchtower. The holographic rings that exhibited from her helmet used were  
retracted, but her long blonde hair was still tied with a green bow.

Mayl turned to her Navi. Her pink, knee-long corduroy coat was unbuttoned and  
followed her motions. "Yeah," she replied with a shiver.

"Do you think they will come by?" Roll asked. Mayl did not doubt the sliver of  
hopefulness in Roll's voice.

"Knowing Lan, he'd think it would injure his male pride," she replied frostily.  
She smiled, however, noticing Roll's sudden sadness. "I'm sure that Mega  
wouldn't have much of a problem, though."

Roll smiled weakly. Mayl knew how much Roll cared for Megaman. Mayl didn't have  
anything against Megaman, but she did wish he wouldn't join in on his brother's  
escapades. They could use someone as strong as Megaman in their ranks.

"Miss Sakurai!" a guard shouted from another watchtower, acknowledging Mayl. "It  
looks like two Navis and a man in a light blue NetBattler's jacket are heading  
towards the gates. I've never heard of a light blue Elemental before, since most  
NetBattlers are Elementals, right? What should I do?"

Mayl didn't answer right away. Letting him in would be the first step to letting  
him crush her again. But would he do that to her again? Had he changed?

"I think he has. If you won't let neither him nor Megaman in, then at least take  
Protoman. He looks hurt," Roll said, guessing at what Mayl must have been  
thinking about. Mayl still didn't speak. Roll turned to the guard and ordered,  
"Let them in."

The young guard, naïve and skeptic, wasn't sure what to do. Being ordered around  
by a female leader was enough, but to be bossed by a Navi too... it just seemed  
unnatural. He saw Mayl nod, however, and he opened the gates.

Roll began to descend the ladder to meet up with Megaman. "Are you coming,  
Mayl?" she asked excitedly.

"Send for Yai and Dex to help you get Protoman in," she said. Roll looked at her  
partner with a bit of guilt for feeling happy. She looked away and went to go  
get the others. Once Roll was gone, Mayl squatted in a corner of the watchtower,  
spreading her coat like a fan around her, and began to sob. She desperately  
wanted to be down there, but she could only think about one thing: "How do I...  
How can I say anything to the one who killed my baby?"

-----

Yai stepped into the training room of ACDC Town's protection force's command  
center. She had a white lab coat on, leaving her blonde hair down instead of the  
pigtails she had as a child. She stepped up to microphone and spoke through the  
Public Announcement system. "Dex, we're needed to escort a visitor. It's Lan and  
Megaman."

Dex, at the stage arena, was swinging his large axe madly at holographic viruses  
scattered in the vicinity. Gutsman, Dex's Navi, was using his galactic fists to  
pummel through various opponents of his own. They were so enraptured by the  
combat that they seemingly dismissed Yai. Dex grunted as he cut through a large,  
floating furnace-like virus, known as a FireTower.

Yai felt disgusted having to watch such primitivism. She never enjoyed watching  
Dex and Gutsman fight; the two large brutes always seemed to feed off of pure  
violence. She turned to leave the room, but turned back to tell Dex something  
else. "Protoman's with them too. He looks injured. I might have to treat him."

Dex stopped swinging his axe. He felt the edge of the cold blade with one blunt,  
tan finger. "Guts, get my jacket," he ordered in his coarse voice. The yellow-  
armored Navi took the silver jacket and handed it to his master. The bleakness  
of the jacket didn't match the dark tan skin of its owner, but it matched the  
deepness of his voice. "Finally."

-----

Lan shouldered one side of Protoman while Megaman held the other. They waited as  
the gate opened, albeit slowly. Once the barrier had been opened, the two of  
them stepped into the actual town and waited as the gate closed again. Lan was  
doubtful that Mayl would be out here to see him. He was pretty amazed, though,  
when he saw Roll there to greet them. Yai and her thin, gold-armored Navi,  
Glyde, were waiting as well. Dex and Gutsman were standing behind then, watching  
them, or rather Protoman, circumspectly. Lan wasn't sure what Dex's notions  
were, but he kept an eye on him.

"Mega!" Roll exclaimed as she ran up to Lan's brother and hugged him fiercely.  
She nearly bowled him over, leaving Lan with the sudden task of holding  
Protoman's weight. He just about dropped to his knees.

Dex walked his way up to Lan and knocked him out of the way, showing off that he  
could shoulder Protoman's weight with just his strength. "Guts, go get the  
stretcher. Call a medic while you're at it," he ordered. His voice was deep,  
darker than Lan had expected. He looked at Lan fiercely. "This one will be  
healed by a doc in less than ten minutes. You go with her, NetBattler."

Lan nearly took out his weapon in retaliation, but he stayed his anger. Dex knew  
Lan left the NetBattlers, but, then again, Dex always wanted to be a bully. Lan  
remembered what it was like to be with him in fifth grade. The thug was  
constantly challenging him and Megaman to battles, and always lost bitterly,  
calling Lan names and such. He also knew what Dex meant by saying how quickly  
Protoman would be repaired: We'll cure him, and then all of you leave.

"It's good to see you're okay, Lan," Yai said genuinely in her soft voice. It  
had matured greatly in the seven years of Lan's absence. He figured she was a  
programmer or a Navi doctor, considering she had the whole work suit on, from  
the coat to the skirt; all that was missing was the glasses, but she looked fine  
without them. He was sure there were suitors out for her because of how she  
looked now; Her fair skin helped her femininity shine.

"Nice to see you too, Yai," he greeted in return. He turned to Megaman, who was  
still being attacked by Roll with questions and displays of affection. Glyde,  
still as thin as always, was also getting a greeting of his own here and there  
with Megaman. There was a small cramp in his heart, because he knew that the one  
he was hoping for wouldn't show. Although Yai and Dex were here, he knew the way  
he hurt them and everyone else in the town gave them every right to shun him. He  
tried to put it out of his mind for the time being. "Where will I be staying  
until Protoman's ready?"

"I don't see why you can't stay at your old house. It is still held under your  
name, after all," Yai replied. She looked like she wanted to say more, but Lan  
couldn't think of what.

Lan nodded in agreement. He turned to Megaman and the others, saying, "I'm going  
to go home first. I'm sure there's a lot of catching up to be done." He turned  
back and started toward his house, but Yai quickly caught up with him. They  
walked in silence together, unsure of what to say to each other.

"Lan, here. Take this," Yai said finally. She handed him the blue headband he  
gave to Mayl seven years ago. He flinched inside at the sight of it.

"Um... thanks," he said as he touched it. It felt deathly cold in his hands, a  
grim reminder that he was not welcome. He doubted that he would ever be welcome,  
considering how badly Mayl must have felt when he left her. Yai, Dex, everyone  
felt had come to her aid. He never returned until now, not even to see if Mayl  
was okay; it was guilt of having ordered the execution of his child that had  
driven him away.

Megaman deserved all the greatness he received, despite the fact that he always  
stood by Lan. His brother didn't deserve the pains Lan gave him. As he stared at  
the headband, he knew that his greatest priority would be to get out of here  
before anyone else got hurt by his scarring hands, and this time, he would step  
out of the gates alone.

-----

The seed was planted. Shin used Lervingthis to take indirect control of Eugene,  
allowing her to seduce him easily. As she slid out of Eugene's bed, she knew  
where her true parents were. She hadn't realized that Lervingthis had shown her  
the location. She was compelled to seek it out herself, but she decided to send  
a lackey instead. After all, she controlled the whim of most of Eugene's  
decisions now, which meant she controlled all the NetBattlers as well. The so-  
called EarthNet Police all paid an undying loyalty to Eugene, unquestioning  
everything. Now with Shin at the helm, she had over half the world's population  
as her knights. As a precautionary measure, she woke him up and asked, "Why are  
you here?"

"To serve you," he mumbled.

Lervingthis gleamed excitedly. Shin continued, "And who am I?"

"Mistress."

-----

Mayl finally stopped crying to herself. Still, the memory of her minute-old  
baby's demise played through her mind, but the sting was weaker, more like a  
distant memory. Thinking about it only hurt her scarred heart worse. She turned  
to leave her post when she heard the other guard vociferating, crying out  
loudly. A curved blade attached to a bone-like handle cut through his stomach  
and boomeranged back to its owner. She quickly ducked and took out the handles  
to her two energy rings from the inside of her coat. She activated them,  
sprouting a bright pink light out from each side of the handles, shimmering in  
the form of a corona.

"By the order of Eugene Chaud of the NetBattlers, release the rogue NetBattler  
now!" ordered a feminine voice from beyond the gates. "You have fifteen minutes  
before we invade!"

Another scythe flew out, this time in her direction, but she turned and saw it  
coming, parrying with a throw of her ring. It resounded in dissonance as the  
ring hit the scythe and both weapons dropped to the ground. Pocketing the scythe  
and her twin rings, Mayl quickly took out her PET, and sent a distress signal to  
Yai and the other Navis. She leapt out of the watchtower, landing on her knee,  
and ran towards the command center. It was time to face Lan.

-----

"A distress beacon!" Yai said suddenly, interrupting Lan's train of thought.  
"It's from Mayl!"

Lan snapped himself back to reality. "What's going on?" he asked as he followed  
Yai, who had taken off on a run.

Yai didn't reply but continued towards the largest building in ACDC town, the  
command center of the rebel faction. Dex and Gutsman were standing outside,  
along with Megaman, Roll, and Glyde. They were huddled together waiting for Lan  
and Yai.

"What's going on?" Lan asked again.

"They're knocking for you, NetBattler," Dex grumbled, using Lan's former title  
again. Then he grinned deviously. Lan wondered once more what Dex was thinking.

Lan saw this as a moment as the moment to take his leave. He was through causing  
his friends and the town any more trouble. "It isn't like I have anything to  
pack. I'll make my way out now. Mega, you can stay here. I don't think it would  
be right if I dragged you along again."

"Drop your damn ego, Lan; no one's going anywhere."

Lan turned around. It was Mayl. He was at a loss of words, his mind suddenly  
paralyzed. "Hi," he said finally. The words felt forced somehow.

"Introductions can wait," she said icily.

"We're going to have to drive them away," Glyde said darkly. "How do we go about  
doing it?"

"That's easy: give them what they want," Lan offered. He heard a grunt of  
approving satisfaction from Dex and Gutsman.

"No one's going anywhere," Mayl repeated.

"I'm not taking that for an answer," Lan retorted. "I'll leave, pretend to turn  
myself in, then I'll escape and be on my merry was as usual."

"We need you to stay here, Lan," Mayl snapped, but still not telling him a  
reason to why she needed him to stay.

The familiar rage and stubbornness welled up inside Lan again. "I am not going  
to be a burden to anyone. I am going to step outside those gates, leave, and  
keep this town in one piece."

"If you're going, I'm going too," Megaman said, acknowledging their lifelong  
partnership.

"No!" Lan shouted angrily. "I am going alone. No one is going to be hurt on my  
behalf. Not one more death will befall this town. Not one more parent is going  
to lose a child and vice-versa."

Lan's last words stung Mayl more profoundly than wanted. He had been referring  
to their child. Everyone looked at him admonishingly. Lan immediately regretted  
speaking the words; he let his anger get the better of him again. Then he sighed  
in frustration, knowing his campaign would aid him no further. "Do we have any  
idea who we're up against?"

Mayl searched desperately within herself to find a way to focus. She needed to  
get the NetBattlers out of her vicinity. She would deal with her emotions and  
Lan later; the years of pain had hardened her heart so she could. "They took out  
the other guard with something like this." Mayl took out a scythe, its handle  
made of bone. Lan knew their opponent instantly.

"Miyu," he said ominously.

"And Skullman," Megaman finished.

The others looked at them questioningly. Lan explained with a sound of disgrace  
in his voice. "Miyu joined the NetBattlers shortly after the ruining of  
DenTown."

"One city Lan and I lost to that shadowed Navi," Megaman said just as gloomily.  
"Miyu and Skullman joined the NetBattlers as an offering of solace and promise  
of revenge against the Navi. It was the same Navi that attacked the party for  
Lan's-" He stopped at that, but the damage had been done. Lan stared gloomily at  
the floor.

"They two of them aren't out there alone though. One watchtower says there seems  
to be an entire contingent of Invisibles too," Glyde reported. Lan guessed that  
he must have received the information recently.

"That's typical of Miyu."

Everyone turned and saw Protoman, fully repaired but still limping slightly.

"What are you doing out here!" Roll cried out suddenly, running to his side in  
fear and concern. "You're supposed to be resting!"

"I had to train her for battle when she joined the NetBattlers. She always  
preferred great numbers," he explained. If everyone could see through Protoman's  
obsidian visor, they were sure that his eyes would have matched his capricious  
smile. It was somewhat of a disturbing sight; he usually had steady amount of  
seriousness. Rarely did he ever smile. "I'm not sure if she's an Elemental or  
not, like the other element masters in the NetBattlers."

"You aren't going out there, Protoman," Roll reprimanded.

"Even with this limp, I think I may be able to help out some," he said  
confidently.

"It probably won't matter. We'll only have to fight and drive them out," Yai  
said, grinning. Glyde looked at her with a face of dread. Yai took two long  
daggers from her white lab coat, flipping one masterfully in the air and  
catching it just as easily.

"I'll go get the rest of the soldiers to prepare themselves for battle," Glyde  
said in an exasperated tone. He was never designed to be a fighter; he was much  
more a scientist and researcher. He went into the command center to relay the  
orders to the rest of the rebel faction. "Then I'll be out to help you guys."

Everyone stood by his or her respective partners, waiting to receive instruction  
from Mayl. "I'll get the archers to give us support from the city barrier. We'll  
just get out there, get rid of as many as possible and tell them to go away."

"We'll take on Miyu and Skullman. Maybe we can talk her out of being a  
NetBattler. The organization has probably done some horrible shit to her head,  
but nothing's unbreakable," Megaman said cruelly.

"Whatever the case, let's get this over with," Dex snapped impatiently.

-----

Miyu adjusted her gray beret, her long blue-gray hair flapping in the wind. She  
waited anxiously. Despite the number of Invisibles she had with her and her Navi  
Skullman by her side, she knew they would lose. Skullman was a thin Navi with a  
long face and long arms. His ability with scythes was amazing, but they lacked  
good speed. Even with their strengthened abilities in the darkness, she knew the  
only way they could win this battle was if their informant, posing as a rebel,  
turned to aid her.

"Our spy has reported that they want to drive us away," Skullman reported. "He  
and his Navi are willing to turn the tides."

"Let's see if Lan still shines with his sins."

-----

Lan and Megaman, along with everyone else and a couple dozen other agents, leapt  
down from the gates. They were following the arrow shower, using the hailing  
arrows as a diversion and guise. Lan quickly extended his double-halberd. Two  
axe-like energy blades sprouted from each end while spear-like blades extended  
from the tips of the staff.

He heard a whistling sound behind him, and quickly whirled around. The scythe  
nearly hit him, but a buster cannon shot knocked it out of the air. Megaman had  
seen it and lent a hand. Miyu wasn't far, at the edge of the woods. Skullman was  
quite a few yards away, but at the edge as well.

"You go get Skullman," Lan said to his brother, but Megaman was already on his  
way.

Miyu saw Lan coming, taking out two scythes of her own. Their blades were  
longer, and he guessed that they weren't going to be used for throwing. She  
leapt into the woods, disappearing from Lan's view. He cursed to himself; if she  
would willingly risk being as blind as her opponent and jump into the woods, it  
meant that she must have been pretty confident.

He stepped into the woods, constantly turning around to see if anyone was  
sneaking up behind him. He suddenly felt a kick coming in a downward fashion  
into his back. He flipped himself back up, turning to face Miyu.

"You can't hide. Even in the dark, I can see your spirit, Lan. It glows too  
much."

-----

Megaman leapt out to one side, dodging a bone scythe and entering a clearing.  
Skullman jumped out of the woods and threw another scythe, this time to quickly  
for Megaman to dodge. He then opened in long mouth and shot out a blue-gray  
flame chain. Megaman extended a sword from his buster cannon and jumped over the  
fire.

Landing in front of Skullman, he came in with a deep thrust. Skullman  
unexpectedly parried with two scythes, latching Mega's beam sword in place.  
Skullman kicked a long leg into Megaman's torso, throwing Mega a few yards away.  
Mega coughed and wheezed, unable to lift himself. He suddenly felt the cold  
blade of a scythe to his back.

"Let's see what you're greatest fear is, Megaman," Skullman said wickedly.

"I'll save you the trouble; it'll be having to watch you-" Megaman began, but  
stopped and winced as he felt the scythe dig into his back painfully.

"Don't mock me. I am an acolyte of the darkness now, Megaman. I can create  
you greatest fear come true!"

"Mega!" Megaman heard Roll call. She was looking for him.

"Ah, perfect," Skullman whispered. He flipped Megaman up and threw him into the  
trunk of a tree. He took out a large scythe, locking Megaman to the tree.

Mega was about to call out to Roll and tell her to watch out, but Skullman's  
long, bony fingers overlapped his mouth.

Skullman grinned as he took out yet another scythe. He threw it at the faraway  
Roll, knocking her unconscious. "Your greatest fear is her demise, isn't it? I  
can't wait to see your expression as I decapitate that rebel bitch." He began  
stalking his way toward her.

-----

Mayl cut one Invisible into three and spun herself around quickly, decimating  
two more viruses with her ring blades. But as she struck one, another sprang up  
to replace it. She was soon surrounded, and the Invisibles phased their ethereal  
bodies out of her view. They began to dance around her, and a gray glowing  
sphere began to emanate above her.

"If only Xena had two chakrams," she said quietly to herself. She quickly  
snapped her wrists out, crossing her arms, and released her weapons. She dropped  
to the ground as she heard her rings begin to ricochet around the area, bouncing  
off the trees at their maximum velocity. She then stopped the rings in mid-  
flight and used her abilities to summon back the rings to her. As she rose, she  
noticed that the Invisibles had all been destroyed. She dusted off her long coat  
and started off to see if there was anyone that needed her help.

A red tongue lashed out of thin air and held her, pulling her arms to her sides.  
Mayl had forgotten about the Invisibles' ability to disappear. The one that she  
faced was gray, however. She'd never seen a gray Invisible nor heard of one. She  
suddenly remembered that the color gray stood for the Darkness element.

The Invisible holding her began to pervade Mayl's mind, finding her worst fear.  
She felt it opening the doors to her memories, looking and searching through her  
like a book or computer. The Invisible found it, and began forcing the memory of  
her baby's death to played through Mayl's mind over and over. The pain and  
heartache was multiplied by the virus' abilities, and she soon fainted in  
exhaustion. The Invisibles snickered amongst themselves; they now held the rebel  
leader, and her brain was all theirs to pick.

-----

Protoman used his shield to block the tongue of one Invisible. He quickly  
disabled his shield and swung his sword arm in a downward arc, cutting right  
through it. Three more charged at him. Three more dissipated into nothing. It  
was all too easy, so Protoman tried to ignore the oncoming Invisibles and tried  
to find out what was really going on.

He turned around, right into the fist of a Navi. Protoman's vision swam, but he  
knew who his assailant was. The rectangular jaw, yellow armor, huge fists. They  
all fit Gutsman.

"Tear him apart!" he heard Dex order.

He should have known. Protoman quickly jumped up and grabbed onto a tree branch,  
dodging Gutsman's rush. He dropped back down, slashing his sword across his  
opponent's back.

"Are you trying to hurt me? I'm aligned with the Force Aspect!" Gutsman taunted.  
He turned and punched Protoman again, sending a shower of silver energy. He  
continued to pummel Protoman, even though the crimson Navi had already lost  
consciousness.

"Go! Get in there, you damned viruses!" Dex ordered, pointing towards the walls  
of ACDC Town.

A horde of gray Fear Invisibles appeared, nodding in assent. They floated and  
headed towards the gates. Dex grunted in amazement as a dagger suddenly flew  
right threw the long line of viruses, deleting them all from existence. The  
dagger suddenly flew backwards, as if it were possessed, and into the arms of a  
"fellow rebel."

-----

"Dex, what are you doing?" Yai asked angrily.

Glyde ran over to Protoman, who was still being attacked by Gutsman. Protoman  
had regained consciousness, only because the pain kept him from fainting. Glyde  
ran up to the weakened Navi, shielding him from Gutsman. "Guts, stop! He isn't a  
NetBattler Navi anymore!"

Gutsman didn't reply, just swatting away the gold-armored Navi like an irritable  
fly. "Only the more reason to beat him into a faceless pulp," he said  
maliciously.

Yai stomped up to Dex, suddenly glowing with a white energy around her body. She  
grabbed him by his jacket collar, lifting him off the ground, and slammed him  
into a tree; Dex was amazed that a woman with such a small, petite figure could  
lift an over two hundred pound man. Yai was quite amazed herself, but she could  
guess that the energy she felt-and exhibited-was the source of her newfound  
strength. "Would you care to extrapolate on that Dex?" she asked, flipping the  
dagger in her hand.

"How do you think the NetBattlers knew that Lan was here? Well, you're looking at  
the answer, rich bitch," Dex said pompously. He took out his energy axe and threw  
it to Gutsman, shouting, "Finish the job the Mistress sent us to do, Guts!"

"Double-crossing bastard," Yai hissed and brought up the dagger in her hand and  
sliced his throat shallowly. She dropped him, letting him bleed; she knew the  
cut wasn't life threatening, but she also knew it would keep him from doing  
anything for a while.

She turned to see Gutsman swing down the axe in a killing blow. A flash of white  
energy, similar to the energy Yai had around her body, caught the corner of her  
eye, and when the blinding light finally dimmed, she gasped. Glyde, on his  
knees, had intercepted the axe's course of destruction; the axe sliced deep into  
his torso. He quickly put a palm onto Gutsman's armor and blasted a beam of  
luminescent energy, throwing the traitorous Navi out of view.

Yai ran over to Glyde, tears rimming her eyes. She dropped to her knees before  
him and stammered, "It's alright; the gash isn't to bad. I-I think I'll be able  
to-"

Glyde shushed her, pushing a lock of lovely golden hair away from Yai's face.  
"We both know this can't be repaired, Yai."

"But, you can't go now. You're my digital match; I don't know what I'd do  
without you," she said, letting the tears stream now.

"People change, Yai. That means that they can find other matches," Glyde  
explained, wincing. As if in cue, Protoman grunted as he slowly awakened. "It  
won't be much longer now. Bye, Yai."

"No! You can't die!" Yai pleaded as a bright light grew from Glyde. She threw  
her arms out to wrap them around him, but when she opened her eyes, however, she  
found Protoman in her embrace. The sadness and heartache faded away quickly. All  
too soon, all she could feel was anger, a faint pale glow in her eyes. "The cut  
will be deeper the next time we meet, Dex."

-----

Miyu came in with both her scythes, crossing down over each other. "I am aligned  
with the Darkness element now, Lan. There isn't anything you can hide from me. I can  
make every uncertainty come true to work against you," Miyu taunted as Lan  
blocked the attack.

He jumped back, knowing that she did hold the advantage. Lan never aligned  
himself with any Element or Aspect, so he had an average chance in every battle.  
In a situation like this, though, he never felt more helpless. He didn't any  
special abilities like fireballs and energy blasts, just his halberd. Every one  
of his direct attacks had been predicted and countered. He would need a distraction.

Miyu put her scythes away and stood rigidly, positioning her arms at a slight  
angle to her sides. A gray vortex appeared and dissipated, leaving behind a  
giant, four-foot skull. Miyu took out her scythes again. She sliced in an "X"  
through the skull, which suddenly divided into four pieces and transformed into  
four energy balls. They flew at Lan, leaving a trail of energy like a comet.

Lan quickly jumped over the first sphere, grabbing onto a tree branch and  
swinging full circle to avoid the rest. He raced up to Miyu. She did the same, but  
unexpectedly sidestepped and stuck out her scythe. It ran right along his arm,  
cutting through his light blue jacket and into his arm.

Lan didn't say anything. Instead, he ignored the searing pain in his right arm  
and slammed his halberd into the ground and pushed down against it; dirt and  
soil flew into Miyu's eyes. He ran up to her and tackled her to the ground. The  
speared end of the double-halberd met the skin above her heart. "Call off the  
Invisibles, now!" he growled.

"I don't think you're in a position to make threats, considering what's at  
stake, here Lan," Miyu said. "Your worst fears have come true by my hand."

A rustle in the bushes averted his gaze. There, unconscious and held by Fear  
Invisibles, was Mayl. Her body hung lifeless and limp, as though she were  
drained of energy. Miyu waved her hand, and some trees suddenly disappeared. The  
new view revealed Skullman, ready to decapitate an unconscious Roll.

"Let them go!" Lan shouted, pushing the blade slightly deeper to tear a few  
seams of Miyu's gray NetBattler's jacket.

"You're not in any position-" Miyu started, but was interrupted by a howl of  
pain from Skullman.

-----

Megaman leapt down from his perch in the tree. Skullman hadn't thought about  
restraining Megaman's sword arm, so Mega had easily escaped his restraint. He  
landed between Skullman and Roll, slicing off the hand that held her captive.  
Skullman bellowed in agony, clutching the damaged arm. Megaman retracted the  
energy blade and used his buster cannon to delete the hand, freeing Roll  
completely. He gently laid her by a tree.

Skullman took out a scythe quickly, and looked up. He found a giant cannon put  
to his face.

"Call off your Invisibles now, Miyu. Release Mayl and get the invading ones out  
of the city. Otherwise the Navi will be missing two body parts," Megaman  
threatened, his voice dripping with anger and seriousness.

Miyu didn't even stop to contemplate the situation. "Alright."

The gray Fear Invisibles disappeared from view, gently laying Mayl down. The  
invading viruses receded from the gates of ACDC. Lan disabled the blade to his  
double-halberd and retracted the extension poles. He offered a hand and helped  
Miyu up. "You don't have to be a NetBattler. They aren't helping you in any way,  
trust me," he advised. "I'm sure that they won't help you with that Navi."

She dusted off her jacket. "You still have so much naïveté, Lan Hikari. The  
NetBattlers have accepted me. If you'd stayed you would still be a great leader.  
But, then again, every leader has his flaws and mistakes. I just hope yours  
don't cost you any more than it already has- or will."

She walked over to Skullman, who was still hurting from the severed limb. She  
fixed her gray beret, and suddenly disappeared from view as easily as an  
Invisible.

"We'd better get back inside and get Mayl and Roll treated right away," Megaman  
said. Lan nodded in agreement. Megaman picked up Roll and was already making  
haste for the gates, not waiting to see if his brother needed help.

"I think we're going to be inside these gates-or at least with our friends here-  
for quite some time," Lan remarked as he lifted Mayl from the ground. He felt a  
twinge of guilt form in his heart. She got hurt again because of him; although  
he knew it would be easy for him to just run away and forget it all, he  
remembered that Mayl had told him that he needed to stay. "What could you  
possibly ever want to do with me?" he asked her, wondering whether if she could  
hear him through her slumber.

-----

The blue-black Navi stared down at the town. It watched as Lan and Megaman  
hauled in their loved ones. It felt sick at the sight of such emotion. Grunting  
to itself about the amount of vulnerability of sentiment, the Navi jumped down  
from its perch. It turned to the dark horizon and began calculating the fastest  
way to eradicate Lan. Before it could do that though, it had to report to its  
master, Lervingthis. Then it would savor every last howl of pain that escaped  
Lan's lips.

- End -

- Notes/Explanations -

My first episode! Well, this took me a while to do, since I was conflicted with  
whether I should include people from EXE/Battle Network 2 or not. I didn't have  
the game, so I didn't know much of the BN 2 characters/enemies, but I just  
bought it, so I will include cameos and whatnot from some of the characters in  
BN 2. And I won't use those annoying US enemy names.

How'd you all like the fact that the kiddies (Lan, Mayl, etc.) aren't very  
happy-go-lucky anymore? And now they have to fight too! If you didn't understand  
what a halberd is, let me explain: it's a polearm with a spear at the tip and an  
axe along perpendicular to it. It gives the best qualities of the axe and spear  
in one. Lan's halberd happens to have spears and axes at both ends of the staff.

Maybe you didn't notice, but I kinda took Mayl's outfit and weapons from Rinoa  
in Final Fantasy 8 ;). The energy rings were a mix between Rinoa and June from  
Star Gladiator, another great Capcom game, and the long coat is supposed to be  
Rinoa's long coat/jacket thing. Expect some small twists and stuff like that  
from me. My writing is usually full of rips.

Well, the story will continue, with the next episode to come soon (hopefully).A big, big thanks go out to Lan of Rockman Network! Very, very big thanks. If  
you didn't host it, I wouldn't have known where else to go other than To review this episode/chapter, just post a review at the MMXZ  
Forum or e-mail me Make sure you check out my other story! If you are on just  
scroll up to the top and click on the link where my name is!

Pyrestrike Out -


	2. Paradox :: Chapter 2: Piercing Eyes

**EarthNet: Paradox**

A Megaman: Battle Network fanfiction by Pyrestrike

Warning: This is not the normal, light-hearted material that many of you are  
used to seeing from other fanfiction writers and from Megaman: Battle  
Network. This fanfiction contains mature themes, vulgar language, extreme  
violence and crude sexuality. This is not recommended for younger viewers.

The "-----"'s means that there is a scene change or a big change in  
perspective.

The ""'s means that there's a small scene change, a change within the  
current scene or a small change in perspective.

Disclaimer: Megaman, Megaman: Battle Network, and related characters are  
copyrighted under Capcom. I do not own nor attempt to abuse these  
copyrights. And if you see any characters I made up myself, consider them  
copyrighted under me ;).

---------------------------  
- Begin -

Chapter Two: Piercing Eyes

Shin tossed and turned in her four-poster bed. "Why am I attacking those rebels  
using the NetBattlers?"

She found no reply to her answer, and she looked as though she expected one. Her  
eyes suddenly took on a gleam of innocence, of the seven-year-old child she was  
supposed to be.

Lervingthis gleamed. The moon-shaped obsidian crystal could not tolerate being  
near such goodliness. It eased her into sleep, using its magic to calm her. It  
erased the thoughts and questions, replacing them with a dream of putting  
daggers into the backs of her giveaway parents. It told her to plant a spy  
within the rebel network.

The next morning, Shin arose restored to the meaning of her name. She would send  
a mole to track the rebels immediately.

-----

Lan sat in the lobby of the ACDC Hospital, nervous and annoyed. He couldn't help  
but accept the flooding memories. Everywhere he turned, he could hear the loud  
bursts as he fired at his parent's killer, that elusive Navi. Yet he couldn't  
see any of it. The entire hospital seemed renovated and new, but that was  
expected; he hadn't been home for seven years.

Yai, in her white lab coat again, stepped into the lobby. Lan smiled weakly,  
asking, "How is it going?"

"Well, Mayl's awake now, and she only fainted due to some very severe trauma,"  
Yai explained, pausing after saying "trauma." Lan knew why-the Invisibles must  
have made her relive some horrible memory, probably dealing with Lan.

"The question was meant for you. How are you holding up... after Glyde?"

"I could be better," Yai said flatly and quickly walked away.

"Okay," Lan said to himself. It was no surprise that Yai-or anyone-would give  
him the cold shoulder. He stood up, but didn't move towards the hallway leading  
to the patients' rooms. He eventually started walking but paused again. He  
turned around and the sliding doors to the hospital opened, but he couldn't see  
whom it was; the morning sun was too low and shining brightly into his eyes.

"Lan, wait up!" Lan heard Megaman call. Roll, who had also been knocked  
unconscious in last night's battle, was running into the room alongside Megaman.  
She only suffered a small dent in her armor due to the scythe that Skullman hurt  
her with.

"Is Mayl okay?" she asked.

Lan nodded. "I was on my way to her room. You guys coming too?"

"Yeah."

They walked through the corridors of the hospital in silence. They eventually  
reached Mayl's room; she was sitting upright and smiled as Megaman and Roll  
walked in. The smile lacked the enthusiasm once Lan stepped in. "Hi, everyone."

"How are you feeling?" Megaman asked.

"Much better, but I still feel a bit weak," Mayl answered.

"Do you know when you're going to get out?" Roll asked. "We have lots of work to  
do, and I don't think I can explain our situation as well as you can."

"I'm supposed to be able to leave in about ten or fifteen minutes; all I'm  
waiting for are the last test results," Mayl replied to the first question.

Lan looked around, noticing that the radio was turned on yet no sound came from  
it. He scanned the room using the corners of his eyes, finding that the  
supposedly stationary security camera had moved to watch him. He was under  
surveillance.

Megaman and Roll exchanged glances and turned to Lan, who had taken a seat. They  
figured that he wanted to be alone before he would talk to Mayl, so the left  
with their best wishes.

Mayl heard the door to the room close, but didn't open her eyes to see if anyone  
was still in her room. She heard Lan sigh as he sat down. She didn't know where  
to start with what she wanted to say, so she just let her heart guide her mouth.  
"The night of the fire, I didn't know what to think. All I heard was 'Lan tried  
to shoot up the place' and people saying that you were chasing some blue-black  
Navi, the one that killed your parents. But no one else saw it. I don't know  
what really happened, but either way, our daughter was sacrificed."

She heard Lan shift uncomfortably, knowing that her last sentence must have  
sounded more accusing than she had intended it to be. She opened her eyes and  
turned to him. His head hung low, so she couldn't see any emotion in him or his  
face. 'He should feel bad,' she thought to herself, trying to convince her  
subconscious that what she thought of him was right. 'After everything he's  
done, at least now he can show some guilt for what happened.' She didn't notice  
that she whispered that aloud until it was already too late.

"Do you seriously believe that?" Lan burst out after what he had heard Mayl say  
to herself. "You think that just now I'd feel guilty in any way? Why do you  
think I never wanted to step back into this hell? I've walked with guilt in  
every way possible for the last seven years! When I was in a town, people looked  
at me sideways. The night before you were having your baby, I stayed with you.  
Because of that, my parents and all of SciLabs were razed right to the ground  
when I could have been there. I've sacrificed and lost you, my family, everyone  
and everything. Don't think that just now I felt anger or guilt for the first  
time."

Lan got up and was about to leave the room, but stopped at the doorframe. 'How  
is walking out now any different from walking out back then?' he thought. He  
turned back inside and sat down again. He ran his fingers through his brown hair  
in frustration. He looked at her, but her back was to him, silently sobbing to  
herself.

"It's amazing how so many can turn a blind eye to the truth," Lan said, mostly  
to himself. He stared blankly at the red-tiled floor, seeing the embers of the  
flame that had killed his mother and father.

-----

Yai was talking to a nurse when she heard her PET ring. "Just run the repair  
program on him," she told the nurse. She checked her mail, finding a new letter.  
She scanned through it quickly, then typed a reply message and started for  
Mayl's room.

Yai stepped into the room and walked toward Mayl. "Are you sure?" she asked  
quietly, although she knew Lan could hear. Mayl nodded. Yai turned to Lan, who  
was staring blankly out the window. She saw something that looked like sadness  
in his brown eyes, but she quickly dismissed it. She was purely convinced that  
someone who ever could kill a baby didn't know guilt or sadness, running away  
instead to follow some imaginary killer. She never expected Lan to one of those  
people, but now that she knew that he was, she felt no sympathy other than pity  
for what he had become.

"It looks like I'll finally know why I can't leave," he said, in an inquiring  
tone rather than a stating one.

Yai ignored what he said, not letting her emotions get the best of her. "Come  
on; I'm going to take you... somewhere important. I'll explain then."

The two of them stepped out of the room and stepped into a nearby elevator. Yai  
hit the button for the seventh floor and stepped back, leaning against a rail.  
"Megaman will be here to answer some questions as well."

Lan continued to act as though nothing mattered to him, staring transparently at  
the rising number indicating the current floor. Yai felt like walking up to him  
and slapping him twice to snap him out of his irritating attitude. She stayed  
her hand, however, and they eventually reached the seventh floor.

-----

"Alright, I'll get straight to the point," Yai began, standing while Megaman and  
Lan were sitting before her desk. "This new Netcrime wave has swept  
strategically. If we follow the facts long enough, then ACDC will be the next  
intended target, since they first destroyed DenCity, then ransacked SciLabs, and  
we're the closest target. Now, for every wave, the two of you have been there.  
We want to-,"

"-enlist us," Lan finished with a flat tone.

"To tell you the truth, I really don't care what Mayl wants you to do. I'm just  
here to get the information we need. Now, if you'll cooperate rather than being  
an annoying bastard then let's get started," Yai said icily. Lan was a bit  
stunned to see her in such an emotionally controlled state. He figured that she  
had as big of a grudge against him as big as the NetBattlers and still had a  
bitter taste in her mouth from Glyde's passing.

"Well, if it's a, 'How do you guys do it?' question, we just fight," Megaman  
continued politely.

"You just go out there, against an army of humans, Navis and viruses?" Yai was  
appalled.

"Basically," Lan said once again in a blatant tone. Then his eyes narrowed. "But  
we don't always win. Like the time we could have saved SciLabs, but were too  
busy."

Yai questioned her perception of Lan for a moment. Had she just seen a slight  
guilt in his voice? She knew the Lan before would have felt something, but what  
he had become surely would not ... She shook the doubts from her mind. People  
don't change that way; she had to believe that. She moved on to continuing the  
interview. "Is there a difference between-"

"Do you seriously believe that I'm that kind of person?" Lan asked her suddenly,  
interrupting her.

She raised an eyebrow, quickly attempting to feign confusion. "What do you  
mean?"

"I'm sure as a doctor, you see all kinds of sick circumstances; there are people  
who kill their kids in cold blood, leave them and never come back, or worse. I'm  
sure that you believe I'm one of those people," Lan said in a non-accusing tone.

"Lan..." Megaman prodded.

"How...?" Yai asked in confusion. How did he know?

"Look, I don't blame you for thinking so," Lan remarked. "Hell, I would have  
thought the same if it had happened to someone else. But believe me, I'm not  
like that. I ran because I knew this is exactly what everyone would think of  
me."

"Lan, will you cut it out?" Megaman pleaded. "What's gotten into you?"

"I'm just giving the people what they want. It's not like I'm exactly welcome  
here anyway. After all, I did abandon everyone when that first Netcrime wave  
struck," he replied with sharp cynicism. He looked directly into Yai's eyes, so  
piercingly that she felt a cold shiver run through her. "Of course, you'd have  
to wonder why the town wasn't destroyed in the first place, wouldn't you?"

Yai's eyes went wide. The entire town had believed that they were able to push  
the criminals back far enough so that they lost interest and went off. They  
weren't actually able to keep them at bay, but the enemy was suffering immense  
casualties in the rear. They thought it was just backstabbers.

"Yeah, I'm sure that the town also thought the criminal group was still too weak  
since it just 'woke up,' but that was easily disproved when it decided to go  
after SciLabs right afterwards. While I was caught up here, trying to make sure  
this place was safe, the home I once knew and where everything I cherished  
lived, it found that my parents would be a much easier targets," Lan said  
prickly, his voice slightly quivering. "I gave up my parents to save the town  
that hates my fing guts to the very reaches of their souls. Well, now you  
know who that mysterious halberd-wielding savior is. You know, the one that's  
been all over DNN news?" He subsequently took out his double halberd and  
activated it. "Yup. The devil of ACDC is the one who managed to save half of the  
world's towns so far."

"Catharsis," Megaman said quietly to himself.

Yai didn't know what to say.

"I figured that this would be the best time to get rid of the lump on my chest,  
considering that you decided to broadcast this interview- I mean interrogation-  
throughout the town," Lan continued, "because the town would want to know what  
valuable information this here evil mind had inside. I noticed the stereo in  
Mayl's room had a blinking light-like it was trying to record something. The  
town would want the information on how to keep the criminals away and then cast  
me out, exactly the way I supposedly cast myself out, right?"

Yai was stunned-more than stunned, actually. Even the more decent Lan, the one  
from her childhood, never spoke openly about his feelings and thoughts. She  
suddenly felt a little guilty herself, following blindly on presumptions and  
statistics. "How did you know?" she asked again, her voice quaking as well.

"It's all thanks to Mayl. You said she wanted me to have my headband back,  
right? If there was any bad thing associated with it, it was that one sunset  
seven years ago. That night that I left the town and Mayl and everyone to go and  
'get revenge' still hasn't been forgotten nor forgiven. Am I right?" he asked  
rhetorically. "How do you think I'd be able to survive this long? I just kept my  
eyes peeled for small changes in the atmosphere; I had to be able to do that,  
considering that every town I've ever went to has tried to cash in on the  
NetBattler's bounty on my head."

Yai slumped back against a wall in the oval room. They were caught red-handed.  
The town never wanted Lan to stay or even be near the town, but the rebel  
faction needed the information he knew. They expected him to return eventually,  
and they planned what they would ask and do so that they would be ready when he  
showed up. They never expected him to know that.

"Everyone's changed. Everything's changed," Lan commented.

"How can you know all this?" she asked again. They'd taken every precaution so  
that he wouldn't know; they didn't want him to not relinquish any information.

"I already told you," he replied coldly. "Now back to the interrogation. If it's  
inside info you want on the NetBattlers, you're looking at him."

Yai still couldn't believe his attitude. Most people, knowing that they weren't  
very liked and were being observed against their will or their knowing, would  
have gone ballistic. It was an expected response. "Don't you feel anything, any  
anger at all? Are you some indifferent stranger?" she asked, somewhat  
accusingly.

"I'm just being what's expected of me. I'm a cold, heartless, emotionless,  
apathetic child-killer, right? I sent the order of execution to my daughter and  
the order of destroying this town by following my anger," he said bluntly, still  
without any rage. "And I'll do what's expected of me." He got up and left the  
room.

-----

Shadowman slipped through the gates of ACDC fairly easily. He was a trained  
assassin, so the presence of guards did not hinder his movement. Despite the  
simplicity, he still found excitement from the naïve guards. Grinning to  
himself, he walked into the first scrap of shadow he could find, becoming it.

A Navi of great renown, Shadowman could track someone for days with nutrients  
and still manage to finish them off without the enemy knowing. In his purple  
ninja's outfit, he was considered the best and undefeated assassin of all time.  
Of course, that title was lost twelve years ago. His fool of an operator had  
made many mistakes in controlling Shadowman, so his first loss was against  
Megaman. A bitter taste entered his mouth at the thought of it, although he had  
long since disposed of his anger toward the match.

Now, Shadowman had no master. Thanks to the EarthNet, he was complete, whole; he  
was the perfect assassin. He was more of a mercenary now, although every mission  
he accepted managed to twist into his benefit. This time was different though.  
It was time for vengeance and competition.

Once inside an alley, he immediately created a mirage over himself. He would  
look like Lan.

-----

Mayl stepped out of the hospital, finally out of the constraining cubicle. She  
took a quick look around, checking to see if Lan was around. She would have  
slapped herself had she not been in public. What business did she have looking  
for him anyway? She had nothing to say to him. She didn't want to and felt that  
she shouldn't care for Lan. Yet she was searching for him, with a sliver of  
indescribable hope that felt wrong within her heart.

She immediately sensed that something was wrong with the house, but she did  
nothing to hinder the pursuit. She looked around warily, as though the shadows  
of the house were living. She opened the door and stepped in. A loud creaking  
noise brought Mayl out of her daze.

Mayl rushed in, her rings unsheathed in the blink of an eye. The entire house  
was pitch-black, and the air was dead and without movement. "Come on out!" she  
shouted defiantly.

The door slammed behind her and the lights turned on.

Mayl instinctively turned around. Before she even made half-circle, a black  
shadow dropped from above and a hand clasped over her mouth. She felt herself  
being turned away from the assailant's face, and felt a pointed object poke at  
her back.

"Drop your weapons, Mayl," the attacker ordered in a deathly tone. His voice  
sounded so familiar, ringing like an ancient melody in Mayl's ears."Lan!" she gasped, wide-eyed. She immediately released her energy rings and  
waited. She felt a side of her to so desperately cut a smile in his throat, but  
somehow she knew it would be pointless.

"Close, but not quite," the attacker said, laughing. The lights were out again.

Mayl was thrown into a chair, still not being able to see the mugger's face. She  
felt her body seemingly shake uncontrollably. She had never before been so  
afraid in her life. She heard the front door opening, and she wanted to cry out  
in alarm to warn whoever was coming in, yet she was suddenly frightened at the  
consequences. The way she was so easily subdued scared her.

"Hello?" the civilian asked. He wandered around in the darkness for a bit,  
trying to find the light switch. Before a minute could pass, all the emphasis in  
his eyes left him. A dozen silent shuriken sliced into his back.

-----

Megaman and Roll walked off to search for clues on Lan's whereabouts. Most  
people would just say that they didn't want anything to do with Lan, but a  
couple did mention some interesting things.

"So far, all we've gotten is that he was in his house and he left his house.  
How's that for a lot of useful information?" Megaman said dryly.

Roll sighed. "Mayl isn't answering my calls either. Where is everyone?"

"Probably sulking," Mega replied dryly. Roll turned to him and slapped him.  
"What was that for?"

"Stop being so cynical!" she shouted, then stopped once she realized that some  
others must have heard. "You're starting to sound like Lan."

Mega stared into her luminescent green eyes. "Is there something wrong with Lan  
that would be bad if I started to sound like him?" he snapped angrily.

"He razed an entire nursery, chasing some ghost that wasn't there!" Roll  
retorted.

"That Navi could have been there. No one knows that for sure."

Roll hated to have to argue with Mega, but she just couldn't see Lan in any  
other way than what he had described himself earlier in the afternoon. "Would it  
change anything it was there?"

"Try losing your parents to something you can't explain. Try being someone who  
was created just as a replacement. Maybe then you'll understand a bit." Megaman  
uttered quietly.

Roll couldn't believe it. Mega had just disclosed his soul to her. She stood  
there, speechless.

"All my life, I've felt that I was nothing more than a shadow of Hub, Lan's  
brother. When I was created, I was meant as a replacement to Hub Hikari, just a  
being to fill his shoes. Lan didn't know, so he treated me like a brother, not  
some clone. When he found out, he didn't change the way he thought of me. We  
were partners, and always will be," Megaman said. "I have to find him."

Instead of replying, Roll went up to him and kissed Megaman with more passion  
than either could ever imagine.

-----

"What do you want?" Mayl demanded. She wasn't restrained to the chair, but she  
felt paralyzed and unable to move. Her breathing came in hard, ragged breaths,  
even though she wasn't tired. She heard one of her energy rings activate in cut  
into flesh. She winced to herself.

"You are going to tell me where Lan Hikari has placed Zergniethil. Or you can  
tell me where I can find Lan. Either way, if you refuse, I'll call someone in  
here and show that you killed this man. You energy rings could have easily  
caused all these slices in his back," her assailant demanded.

"No one will ever believe that," Mayl countered. After realizing that only one  
person could move so quickly and be so conniving, she added, "Shadowman."

Shadowman laughed. The statement about framing her was only meant to unnerve  
Mayl, to scare her subconscious a bit more. He was still guised as Lan, so he  
walked in front of her. He knelt down and looked at her, knowing that all the  
while he could see her perfectly through his enhanced vision, while she couldn't  
see him. He leaned in and kissed her while throwing a shuriken to a light  
switch. The room was bathed in light.

Mayl was stunned momentarily and felt a strange familiarity with the assassin's  
lips. When she opened her eyes, she found Lan there, not Shadowman; she  
immediately broke the kiss.

Shadowman laughed again, dropping his guise as Lan. "Not exactly what you  
expected, eh?" he grinned mischievously.

"What the hell do you want?" Mayl reiterated, turned away from his face. She  
would have slapped herself for being so afraid, but she was too scared to do  
that.

"Just what I asked. Where's Zergniethil?"

Mayl shrugged. "Never heard of such a thing."

Still kneeling, Shadowman slapped her, then grabbed her chin roughly and made  
her look at him. "If you don't tell me, I'll pick someone off the street and  
slice them up with the other ring of yours, the one that isn't sticking out of  
the man's back."

Mayl did not doubt him, but she seriously didn't know what he was talking about.  
"I seriously don't know."

Shadowman studied her a moment, then took her two rings and handed them back to  
her. Mayl understood his game. He was taunting her, giving her weapons back yet  
all the while knew she wouldn't raise a finger against him. Then he sat down on  
the chair across from her and thought.

Mayl's heart was beating so fiercely that she was afraid that Shadowman could  
hear it. He suddenly got up to do something, then told her to get up. He created  
a mirage over himself again, becoming the man lying on the floor.

"Come with me," Shadowman ordered.

Mayl, who had the bravery to become the leader of ACDC Town for over five years,  
could find no way to refuse.

-----

Megaman and Roll stepped into Lan's house mere minutes after Shadowman and Mayl  
had taken off.

Roll gasped audibly when she saw the man lying on the floor. "I'll go get an  
ambulance!"

"Wait," Megaman said. He turned around with a letter from the counter. It read:

"Lan,

If you ever intend on getting Mayl Sakurai back, make sure you bring Zergniethil  
to the Yumland Square. Otherwise, Miss Sakurai will be more thrashed up than the  
man on your floor right now."

"It's signed by Shadowman. Two shuriken and one katana, drawn but cuts from a  
dagger," Megaman finished. "Go and get Yai, Protoman and anyone else you think  
may be able to handle the rescue."

Roll nodded and took off. Megaman crushed the paper in his hand. "Where are you,  
Lan?" he muttered as he picked up the corpse and left the house.

-----

The blue-black Navi watched as Shadowman and Mayl walked out of the gates of  
ACDC Town. 'What are you up to, Shadowman?' it thought to itself. Then the Navi  
grinned maliciously as it considered the possibilities of an alliance. If the  
two of them were on the same agenda, then who in the world would pose a threat  
to the newly reformed NetBattlers and whoever it was that Shadowman was working  
for?

-----

Megaman helped set up the provisions for their journey. All this time,  
everything that happened seemed to focus on Lan. Yet he was still nowhere to be  
seen. Megaman figured that it was for the best, since if they did know where he  
was, they would be in worse than they already were.

"Everyone ready?" he asked his new troupe.

"All set," Meijin replied. He was one of the best strategists out there, and  
even though he was a NetBattler, he had proclaimed and proved allegiance to Dr.  
Hikari, Lan's father. He took out his shades and put them on.

Gateman, Meijin's partner, helped Roll keep track of supplies. He had the innate  
ability to create inter-dimensional shields, allowing everything that passed  
through them to go transparently into another dimension. He also held a huge  
sound wave cannon in his chest, as well as a large army of miniature soldiers.  
"We're finished here."

Yai stood by Protoman and called out, "Let's go. We're finished here."

Megaman went up the watchtower to the gates. The sun was starting to set, and he  
knew that Shadowman had a considerable lead in walking time. He only hoped that  
something would slow the assassin down so that he would be able to fight on open  
turf, rather than the Yumland Square like Shadowman had ordered. The endless sea  
of trees seemed to threaten him, telling him that anyone who wandered the woods  
would pay dearly.

He opened the gate so that Roll, Yai, Protoman, Meijin and Gateman could exit,  
then closed it and jumped down to meet them. Gazing at the setting sun again, he  
murmured, "Where are you, Lan?"  
- End -

- Notes/Explanations -

Yeah, yeah. I know that some of you are probably disappointed with this chapter.  
There wasn't any fighting in it, but I'm hoping that you'll understand. Oh, and  
about Meijin. I'm sure the US folk know him as "Mr. Famous," but who in the nine  
hells (I've always wanted to say that) would go and name someone that? So I'm  
using the Japanese name, Meijin.

The next one will be more action-oriented, with a bigger focus on everyone's  
favorite btch, Shin. But please don't be angry with her; it isn't really her  
fault. Everyone's just a pawn anyway...

-----  
Check out my other story, IceFire Sanctuary. It will have a lot to do with the  
two powerful objects you see in this one, "Lervingthis" and "Zergniethil." It  
has a more suspense twist to it, but is a bit more explicit from this one. My  
guess would be 15, or if you can handle grotesque descriptions.

The URL: http/ click below.  
E-mail: Battle Network Universe: go to the Arts section of the MMU Forum and  
post a reply there.

- Pyrestrike Out -


	3. Paradox :: Chapter 3: Harmful Hearts

**EarthNet: Paradox**

A Megaman: Battle Network fanfiction by Pyrestrike

Warning: This is not the normal, light-hearted material that many of you are  
used to seeing from other fanfiction writers and from Megaman: Battle  
Network. This fanfiction contains mature themes, vulgar language, extreme  
violence and crude sexuality. This is not recommended for younger viewers.

The "-----"'s means that there is a scene change or a big change in  
perspective.

The ""'s means that there's a small scene change, a change within the  
current scene or a small change in perspective.

Disclaimer: Megaman, Megaman: Battle Network, and related characters are  
copyrighted under Capcom. I do not own nor attempt to abuse these  
copyrights. And if you see any characters I made up myself, consider them  
copyrighted under me ;).

---------------------------  
- Begin -

Chapter Three: Harmful Hearts

Mayl collapsed, tired from the day's walk. Her feet were sore, her clothes were  
torn, and her breath came in exasperated, hard heaves. She couldn't even think  
because the rest of her body would cry out in pain.

"Are you alright?" Shadowman asked, kneeling before her. He pulled back the dark  
purple hood of his suit to see better; the large shuriken that normally sat on  
his forehead was blocking his view.

Mayl coughed, too tired to speak. Shadowman took it as a "no" and got back up.  
She was a bit shocked to see what seemed like concern in his eyes. He scanned  
the treeline, looking for the highest tree with his blue orbs glistening in the  
setting sun. Mayl blinked, and in that instant Shadowman had already found the  
highest point and was gazing at something.

"There's a small Anti-Navi tribe around here. I think I may be able to get us a  
couple of horses, and maybe a place to crash for the night. We should be okay if  
we go in from the eastern end, in a clearing," Shadowman reported as he came  
down. Mayl raised a curious eyebrow, wondering why Shadowman was being so  
sincere. He laughed, knowing well what she must have been thinking. As he put  
his hood back on to conceal his black hair, he replied, "Not everyone is without  
a heart, Mayl."

Mayl felt as though he were hinting on something, but she closed her eyes into  
the delves of unconsciousness before she could think about it.

-----

"It's been two days of gate-jumping and looking for Mayl. We need to figure out  
how to make this easier, because those portals are really starting to wear me  
out," Roll complained.

"It isn't my fault if the dimensional fabric was so shaky," Gateman retorted.

Everyone was tired. They had been using Gateman's ability to create warpgates to  
go from place to place, hoping that they would be able to catch a lead against  
Shadowman.

"We have to ask someone whether if they'd seen the two of them or not," Roll  
suggested.

Megaman had refused making any contact with the outside peoples, since most were  
either Navis who hated humans or humans who hated Navis. Since the first  
Netcrime wave, the world became divided between those against the humans and  
those against Navis, although both did not support the crimes of their own kind.

Sighing, Megaman conceded. "We've got no choice. But the nearest one is an Anti-  
Navi tribe, so the four of us can't go. It'll be up to Meijin and Yai to get us  
the information."

As they neared the clearing though, they all felt something very strange about  
the air. Protoman walked up to the last line of trees and sliced them down. Roll  
gasped at the sight.

Cabins and makeshift tents were all in shambles, smoke rising from the ashes.  
There were some piles that resembled small barricades and bodies behind them.  
Everywhere corpses were strewn about, either maimed or sizzling.

"I hear someone... or something over here!" Roll called out, near the clearing  
in the eastern end of the camp.

Megaman ran over quickly and looked toward the direction of the crying. Behind  
one of the piles of ash, he found a young child. As he neared the child, he  
heard her muttering, "Dark...mean...Navi."

Megaman watched the girl collapse and rushed to he side. "She's gone," he  
announced.

Gateman, Meijin, Protoman, and Yai stepped into view. Yai, with a somber look in  
her eyes, concluded, "That makes all of them."

"Dark, mean Navi," Roll echoed.

Megaman's exuberant green eyes took on an icy glaze that none of them had ever  
seen before, cold and penetrating. "Shadowman is going to pay for all this."

-----

"You may go," Shin ordered, dismissing the mole that she had sent to ACDC.

The man turned and left. Lervingthis did not like these late developments.  
Trying to kill off the rebels would be tougher than expected.

Shin suddenly walked off to a corner of her office and squatted on the floor.  
She began sobbing, and murmured in a quiet voice, "Why do I want to kill  
innocent people? I don't even know who these people are... don't I?"

As she began crying in confusion and sorrow, Lervingthis stabbed into her heart  
with an image of her driving a sword into two dark forms. It made her feel the  
ecstasy of flowing blood, made her feel excited about taking a life. The moon  
crystal showed her the power she could invoke; no one would ever abandon a child  
again.

Lervingthis did not expect such resistance from the child. While Shin appeared  
to be in her early twenties, the moon crystal knew that in essence she was only  
around seven years old. It had hastened the growth process for her body so that  
it could manipulate the girl and those around her. Now was not the time to be  
asking questions.

Although Shin felt all the things Lervingthis pushed into her, she did not stop  
crying. Now she felt sick, and her voice came out as those of a child. "I want  
to kill people? Why? Mommy? Daddy? Where are you?"

Lervingthis was sick. Never had it seen such vulnerability, such weakness to  
emotion. It made her feel angry at the thought of her parents. The sentient  
stone then came up with an idea it thought of as brilliant. It made her see a  
false image of her parents killing children, throwing them into fires and  
decapitating them. It gleamed in pleasure at its brilliance.

"NO!" Shin cried out, startling Lervingthis. She tore the stone off her neck and  
threw it to the ground.

'How could this be?' Lervingthis thought. Grown men and monsters had succumbed  
to the lust of power that Lervingthis had made them feel, but this little stray,  
homeless girl had more resilience than it believed possible.

Just then, Dex, the NetBattler's new second-in-command, came into the room  
because he had heard Shin cry out. "Is something wrong Mistress?"

Lervingthis seized this opportunity to make Shin as weak as she had been again.  
It would take control of Dex.

(Warning from the author: Some pretty explicit material in this scene. DO NOT  
READ unless you are certain that SADISM (i.e. pleasure from pain) does not  
offend you)

Dex saw his superior on the floor, weak and seemingly helpless. Just then, a  
strange sensation of eroticism waved over him. He wasn't sure where it had come  
from, but he went with it anyway; it excited him.

"Are you alright, Mistress?" he asked again, now kneeling before her.

Shin's robe had conveniently lifted just below her top of her thighs, placing  
her in a very stimulating position. Dex could not help but feel compelled.

"I- I think I'll be okay," she stammered as she rose. Doing so caused her robe  
to fall below her shoulders.

Dex was amazed at her beauty, for some unknown reason. Her milky skin, her long,  
fiery hair, her soft lips, every part of her seemed to entice him. He slapped  
her, and a wave of pleasure ran through him. "You are weak," he spat.

Shin looked up, her innocent blue eyes still wet from tears. She did not  
understand what was happening, as though she were seven once again.

Dex grabbed her roughly by her cheek with one large hand, pinching it until he  
was certain it would be bruised later. He continued to ridicule her, calling her  
names and such. Shin did not resist him at all, afraid that he would only hurt  
her more. It felt so good to him. His games of masochism continued further,  
until he finally had rid the two of them of constraining clothing. He threw her  
onto her bed, where he joined her.

Lervingthis gleamed.

-----

Megaman entered the stables of the Anti-Navi camp. "Hey, one of the stalls has  
hoof prints that lead out of the stable."

"And there's a set of hooves that took an exit to the west," Yai informed as she  
stepped next to Megaman, "followed by a set of regular boot prints."

"Shadowman must have made Mayl walk while he enjoyed the ride," he spat.

Yai wasn't so certain though. The prints that she had seen seemed too big to be  
Mayl's, but she kept quiet for she did not want to upset Megaman any further.

Gateman appeared from a portal right before them. Roll was with him as the  
purple shadows began to take a definite shape. "We found another set of prints  
that follow the hooves. They're really huge," Gateman explained.

"Someone else is following Shadowman and Mayl?" Meijin theorized.

"More so Shadowman than Mayl," Yai added. "He is an assassin, after all."

"At least we know where Mayl has gone. Judging by the cinders from the scraps  
around here, they've probably got a two-hour lead. But the horse may add another  
hour or two. How much more power do you have for a jump, Gateman?" Meijin asked.

"About enough to eliminate that two-hour lead from the horse," he replied. He  
immediately began charging up, a green glow emanating from his chest.

"Okay. We'll go in the direction of the tracks and then we pick it up at dawn,"  
Megaman ordered. They all nodded and leapt through the purple gate.

-----

Shin gasped heavily, sitting upright. She was naked, and immediately pulled up  
the comforter to cover herself. On the floor next to her was Dex, drooling,  
snoring and as dazed as a drunkard. She felt dirty and sick. Getting up, she  
quickly got into a blouse and jeans, running out of the room and mansion.

She would have to get help, from someone. The only place she knew was ACDC Town.

Lervingthis knew that Shin's leaving was bound to happen. Yet it did not care.  
The moon crystal had now found a new master. While it preferred the devious  
manipulation of others, the purity of power still rung a high note in its being.  
It rested comfortably around the neck of Eugene Chaud, just waiting to use the  
amazing resources of the NetBattlers to accomplish the reason it was created:  
Revive the Gorgon Goddesses and envelop the universes in eternal dissonance.

Still, it was unnerved with the quest of Shadowman and his Elementals. If the  
ever found that sun crystal, Zergniethil, the energies that Lervingthis used  
would all be to waste. The moon crystal would have to arrange against that.

"They have been fooled," informed the blue-black Navi.

"Good," Eugene replied. "So the Megaman troupe is tracking Shadowman and Mayl,  
believing that the destruction of those Anti-Navis were by Shadowman's hand. Yet  
it was you that razed the camp. So if Megaman reaches Shadowman and his  
Elementals, he will be sure to kill Shadowman and the others. Then Lervingthis  
will be home free, without anyone ever knowing about that damned sun crystal.  
This will prove to be a great adventure, wouldn't you say, Duo?"

The blue-black Navi glared, his name now revealed. "Did Lervingthis tell you my  
name?" Eugene nodded, easing the Navi. Duo was afraid that perhaps Lervingthis  
was losing its touch, not being able to handle the newer hosts that it had  
acquired. But he would be forever loyal to the moon crystal.

"Your talent proceeds you, Duo. Many have sought for your head-and none are even  
sure of your existence. I, for one, did not believe that you existed, despite  
the ramblings of that deserter, Lan Hikari," Eugene ranted.

Duo narrowed his eyes. The mere mention of the Hikari name angered him. He took  
a giant broadsword from his back and ran a finger across its cool metallic edge.  
"My blade itches to do battle."

Eugene laughed. "Then do so, my partner. Perhaps Shadowman and Miss Sakurai  
deserve an early wake-up call."

Duo grinned. "This companionship has started off on the right foot, you agree?"

Eugene nodded again. "Go. If you so wish, get another NetBattler to go with you.  
I have business to attend here, so I cannot go."

Duo shook his head. "I shall work alone." He went to the balcony and leapt off  
into the mansion's surrounding woods.

-----

Shin walked up to the river and looked down at her hands. She almost jumped back  
in fright, since they seemed so small compared to they had been moments before.  
She looked at her rippling reflection in the river. "I'm seven again," she  
whispered to herself, unsure of whether to be happy or sad.

Her body was no longer alluring but now held the destroyed figure of innocence  
lost. She no longer had a name either. Shin Arashi was just a name given by  
Lervingthis. The girl, thirsty from the long walk away from the mansion, drank  
her fill and walked away, her watching ringing midnight. The thick canopy of  
trees blocked any and all moonlight, but she was able to make out a building of  
some sort not so far away.

She found a few sticks and two sharp rocks. Easily using the two rocks as  
flints, she lit a small fire to illuminate the unending bleakness. She huddled  
closer to it and sat wondering how far she had gotten away from the mansion; she  
had at least gotten about half of way to ACDC by now.

All around her, the sounds of rabid animals and viruses resonated. It was  
unnerving, but she found the courage to close her eyes and hope for the best.  
Her fire went out.

Lan sat upon the pile of debris that marked his parents' graves. Their bodies  
were never found, and no one had the urge to look for it. Everyone suspected  
that the explosion was caused by a faulty pipeline, but Lan looked into it  
further than that. None of the pipelines were damaged; his parents were  
murdered, and by someone who no one knew existed except Lan, as far as he knew.  
He had seen that blue-black Navi that night, although no one believed him.

After the massive destruction, Lan was shunned as a over-lamenting child, a kid  
who wanted to deny the "truth" and call someone or something to blame. He knew  
better.

"Dammit!" he shouted, agitated at his inability and lack of proof. Faster than  
one could see, he pulled out his halberd and thrust it into the ground. Rock and  
debris flew everywhere, throwing it into his hair and eyes. Just then, he saw  
something shift underneath the hole he created.

He dug through it, using his bare hands. Unsure of his expectations, he  
continued to dig and dig until his palms were nearly lacerated from the vigorous  
work. He lifted one particularly large stone and gasped aloud. There was a hand,  
clenched around something. He pried the hand open, revealing a white, sun-shaped  
stone.

He examined it for a while, intrigued by its sudden appearance. "Zergniethil,"  
he said suddenly. He didn't know why he said it, but he automatically knew what  
it meant; it was the crystal's name. He found himself walking backwards, away  
from the pile of stone and metal. He muttered, "Deakon Silektro," and shielded  
his eyes from the blinding light that pierced through the sky.

A bolt of fluorescent energy crashed into the pile of rock and dirt,  
disintegrating it. And the bodies were free. "Mom! Dad!" Lan cried, rushing to  
their long-deceased bodies. Tears streaming from his eyes, he held their hands  
as though he were looking for the gentle warmth that they bestowed upon his  
childhood. They no longer held that heat, to Lan's dismay, but he continued to  
let the tears come and held their hands.

Looking at his father's right hand, he noticed that the crystal was in his  
father's hand. He wiped the tears from his eyes, and stared at Zergniethil,  
still in his palm. The crystal had known where the bodies were, as though it  
were sentient. A light suddenly burst out of it, illuminating all the bodies  
that were strewn about the ground. They began to glow, and a ball of white  
energy rose from every single one.

Beginning to take form, the two orbs from the Hikari parents were the first to  
show themselves. Lan stood, unsure of how he felt or should feel. The orbs took  
the form of their bodies, and he understood immediately. Each soul rose towards  
the sky, leaving Lan with his parents'.

"Lan," his mother whispered, her words entwining a soft melody within his heart.

'She was so beautiful, and she would always be,' he thought. "Mom?" he said  
aloud, his voice coming in a squeak.

"Lan, we do not have much time to say what we must," his father said, his voice  
also a whisper.

Lan nodded, although he knew that whatever would transpire would only last mere  
seconds, like every other movie he had ever seen.

"The stone you hold is Zergniethil. I'm sure it has already introduced itself to  
you. It is a powerful relic, and it was created to stop a force of destruction  
like none other. It is meant to belay Lervingthis-"

His father was mute, lifted towards the sky and was followed by his mother. Lan  
rushed towards them, grasping at the thinning light. "No!" he shouted, tears  
limning his cheeks. His heart sank as all he felt was dead air in his clenched  
fists while a blue necklace formed around his neck. He still held his position,  
letting everything sink in. The clouds faded, revealing a moonlight softer than  
anything Lan had ever seen before. As the rays splashed upon his face, slowly  
climbing down the rest of his body in time with the clouds, he felt that gentle  
warmth for the first time in seven years.

Just then, he heard a child's scream.

Lan rushed in the direction of the outburst, faster than he had ever seen  
himself move. The trees next to him were all blurred as he entered a forest. He  
heard more things running beside him, and as he turned, he saw huge, spiky  
furred wolves taller than he was. He recognized them immediately as Hoah-gous,  
viruses that were able to spout fire.

'Why aren't they attacking me?' he thought, then noticed that Zergniethil, now  
hanging from the blue band, was glowing. He once again found himself looking for  
something. A yellow Hoah-gou, the largest one of them all, ran up beside him, to  
his right. Lan jumped to his left, then sprang off the trunk of a tree and onto  
the wolf's back. "Follow that cry!" he commanded, unsure whether if the virus  
had heard him or not; the whipping air quite possibly could have drowned out his  
voice.

The ride was intense, with branches whipping around. Lan ducked and jumped  
nearly twelve times, unsure of how he was able to anticipate them. The Hoah-gou  
skidded suddenly, banking to its right. Lan, grasping the wolf's fur, looked  
behind him, seeing a pack of Hoah-gous following close behind. He was amazed at  
what he saw when he turned back to the front. An entire mass of black mushroom-  
like viruses was surrounding a girl, who was crying. Their poisonous pollen were  
spraying everywhere.

The yellow Hoah-gou only sped up, and the man riding it leapt off once the wolf  
passed the girl. In mid-flight, he threw off his jacket, letting it pass over  
them to shield off the pollen. She watched in amazement as he took out some sort  
of pole before she could even blink, and that pole began to sprout more  
extensions until it was taller than both of them. Still wide-eyed, the girl  
gawked even more when two axe-like energy blades appeared at each end, opposite  
each other, and twin energy spears sprouted at the tips. The crystal dangling  
from his neck began to glow even stronger, and suddenly time stopped.

Lan hesitated, wondering what just happened. The Hoah-gous were all frozen  
blurs, and the mushrooms that were all over the floor and trees weren't moving  
either. His jacket hung in mid-air, as did the pollen. Only he and the girl were  
breathing.

"Give me to the girl," a voice commanded. Lan looked around, wondering who could  
have said it, soon discerning that it was Zergniethil. It explained, "Give me to  
her; she can control me much better than you can."

The girl heard it too, and held out her hand. Lan tentatively took off the blue  
necklace, and handed it to the girl. She put it on, muttering in amazement. She  
said something more, too softly for Lan to hear, but she was immediately  
enveloped in a celestial light that pierced through the forest canopy. The girl  
was filled with a sudden burst of energy as her clothes cleaned themselves out.  
Before she could even marvel herself, time resumed.

The jacket fell over them, covering Lan and the girl's heads. He heard a  
shuffling next to him, followed by a torrent of wind; he noted the yellow blur.  
Throwing the jacket over him and leveling their guard, Lan leapt up and onto the  
yellow Hoah-gou, letting the girl sit in front of him.

"Kael, let's go!" the girl ordered. Lan figured that Kael was the Hoah-gou, and  
that Zergniethil imparted the information to her like it had to him. The wolf  
howled, and the wolves all stopped. At the yellow wolf's second cry, the pack  
shot fireballs at the black mushrooms, deleting them from existence.

"Hellafiernos!" the girl shouted. Zergniethil glowed and the very last virus set  
aflame. It dropped where it stood. "Let's go!" she ordered again.

The sun crystal glimmered, and the girl dropped into Lan's arms, tired and  
exhausted. As she closed her eyes, she took a moment to revel in his ice-gray  
eyes.

-----

Shadowman leapt from tree to tree, keeping up with Mayl and the horse. He had  
let her ride on it, knowing that she was tired and that he was more agile than  
the horse anyway. They came into the clearing and stopped.

"Why don't we make camp here?" Mayl suggested.

Shadowman was uneasy with being out in the open, but he figured it was for the  
best. "Alright," he replied. He took out a small ball and tossed it in her  
direction. A small blast of smoke followed, and when it cleared, a tent formed.

Mayl raised an eyebrow. "And where do I sleep?"

"That tent's for you."

Mayl was even more confused now. Ever since they had started on their journey,  
Shadowman was always letting Mayl get the better side of the situation. First,  
he carried her into the camp when she was unconscious. Of course, that didn't go  
well since the Anti-Navis had sensor equipment to detect Shadowman, even in his  
disguise. So Shadowman stole a horse and let Mayl take it. She was still unsure  
of his motives, but the more she thought of it, the more she was inclined to say  
that he was being sincere.

"Don't worry; I don't sleep. If I ever did, I wouldn't be alive today," he said  
darkly.

Mayl considered it for a moment, then let the issue drop. She entered the tent,  
and found herself wondering whether if Lan was looking for her or not. An  
immediate flood of memories came as soon as the thought crossed her mind.

'Please, not again. Not another memory..." Mayl yelled soundlessly in her mind.

She watched as the nurse took her baby to the nursery right across from her  
cubicle. She stood beside the memory of herself, watching the baby go away  
smiling. Mayl knew what would happen next, and knew she could do nothing to stop  
it. The weakness gnawed on her heart like a venomous plague that spread  
throughout her soul.

Lan suddenly appeared, from across the room. He was glowing unnaturally, a white  
phosphorescent light surrounding him that matched a glowing, floating crystal  
that stood before him. His eyes were unusually pale-gray, icily penetrating  
compared to his once-brown orbs. His palm was outstretched, and a barrage of  
arrows of light speared through the room, aiming at something Mayl could not  
see. It was supposedly the blue-black Navi Lan ranted about, but no one had ever  
seen. Everything was moving to quickly, and Lan was glowing too brightly for  
Mayl to search out his target.

She reached him, trying to scope out his target. Her hand passed through him  
transparently, reminding her that she was only a spectator of this memory. She  
heard the memory of herself shouting and telling Lan to stop, to calm down. And  
finally, an arrow misfired.

The fire extinguisher in the nursery exploded, hissing and blowing flame in  
ironic dissonance.

Mayl tossed and turned throughout the night, until she finally got up and out of  
the tent, forehead wet from cold sweat.

"That wasn't exactly how it happened, did it?"

Mayl found herself outside of the tent, lying on the ground with Shadowman  
hovering above her.

"Here," he offered, handing her a canteen.

She accepted it graciously, draining the contents before the minute passed.  
"Thanks," she replied, in an exasperated breath. "What did you mean about not  
happening correctly?"

"Your memory. The dream you just had. Something about it just doesn't ring right  
in your ears, does it?"

Mayl raised an eyebrow quizzically. "How did you know?"

"Trade secret. As an assassin, you learn to read people and their movements,  
typecasting them until you are certain of their feelings and motives. So, what  
was wrong?"

"It was the memory of my daughter's..." Mayl's throat knotted. 'Why am I telling  
him this anyway?' she argued, but as soon as she saw him nod in acknowledgement  
of what she was talking about, she continued. "Lan appeared, destroying  
everything. He was glowing, with a crystal that was just as bright. Arrows of  
light shot out of his palm and arced through his back, as though he were a  
living quiver. One arrow misfired, destroying the nursery. What's weird is that  
Lan was supposed to have a gun, not some glowing relic. And he was supposedly  
chasing some blue-black Navi that no one's ever seen-"

"Blue-black?" Shadowman asked, suddenly serious. His eyes narrowed, sending a  
chill down Mayl's spine. "Dammit, he's here."

"You mean that you know that ghost Navi Lan's rambling? We all thought it was  
some hallucination..."

"Yes, I know that Navi. He is very, very much real. And he's the reason why we  
want Zergniethil. Zergniethil is that sun-shaped crystal Lan was using in your  
dream, and that's why his eyes are ice-gray - the color of the crystal. He does  
have it! And that must mean that he was using the crystal's abilities to destroy  
that Navi, who is the lackey, of..."

Mayl looked around, wondering what could have stopped him from finishing his  
sentence.

"Lervingthis has begun its revival," Shadowman said ominously, taking his hood  
off and standing. He took out his katana, and muttered, "We have to find Lan,  
and the sooner the better."

-----

"Omigod! You're-"

Duo impaled the guard, silencing him before her before she could call for help.  
He jumped down from the watchtower, and along the way sprung off the ladder,  
onto the nearby roof. He ran across the rooftops, sliding onto the balcony of  
Lan's house. As he entered, he watched wearily for any points of ambush.

He scoured the house, and finally came across the dead man's body and the note  
left behind by Shadowman. Duo carelessly growled, the sound resonating through  
the night. He stepped out of the house, finding all of ACDC Town standing in the  
driveway in front of the house.

The civilians all gasped, amazed that they had seen the legendary ghost, blue-  
black Navi. They immediately drew their weapons, whatever they may have been.

Dozens rushed at him, and he deftly spun on his heels to duck and dodge their  
attacks. While doing so, he gut through each of them and let them drop to the  
ground.

He heard an arrow shaft whizzing toward him. He turned in the direction and  
deflected the point of the arrow, sending through ten heads, clean through the  
forehead. Dozens of arrows flew at him, and ten times as many people fell at his  
feet. Finally, the last cry of anguish was complete, cut short by a mere head's  
height.

"I will kill both of you, Lan and Shadowman. No one can hide from me, or  
Lervingthis!" he roared.

The ghost Navi threw a torch into the center of the corpses, lighting all of  
ACDC Town ablaze. He stepped out of the gaze, carving out a moon symbol onto the  
gate. Duo stared at the real moon, which now held a tint of blood-red. "Let the  
blood flow."  
- End -

- Notes/Explanations -

Hey, how'z that for the new chapter? I knew I had to make up for the second  
chapter's action scenes somehow... so I did it this way. The story will be really  
driving forward now, so just stay tuned. I wonder what Lan will think once he  
gets to ACDC...  
-----

Correspondence/Review/Criticism:

On click below.  
E-mail: Battle Network Universe: go to the Arts section of the MMU Forum and  
post a reply there.


	4. Paradox :: Chapter 4: Forced Belief

**EarthNet: Paradox**

A Megaman: Battle Network fanfiction by Pyrestrike

Warning: This is not the normal, light-hearted material that many of you are used to  
seeing from other fanfiction writers and from Megaman: Battle Network. This  
fanfiction contains mature themes, vulgar language, extreme violence and crude  
sexuality. This is not recommended for younger viewers.

The "----------"'s means that there is a scene change or a big change in perspective.

The ""'s means that there's a small scene change, a change within the current  
scene or a small change in perspective.

Disclaimer: Megaman, Megaman: Battle Network, and related characters are  
copyrighted under Capcom. For the sake of good writing, I altered some names of  
characters. I do not own nor wish to attempt to abuse these copyrights. And if you  
see any characters/items or relics I made up myself, consider them copyrighted  
under me ,.  
---------------------------

- Begin -

Chapter Four: Forced Belief

Leaning back in his large recliner, Eugene contemplated how he would achieve  
the Lervingthis' goal. The purple crystal refracted its many facets from the desk  
lamp, illuminating the room with equally mesmerizing spotlights. He could feel the  
darkness that it harnessed, the power it held. He held it by the end of the necklace it  
laced around, letting the lights twirl and twinkle in a dazzling display around his  
office.

Eugene was dying. He could feel the holy, gallant knight that he had always been slip  
out of him. When he was the top NetBattler twelve years ago, he was nothing but  
the protector of all. He swallowed his pride so greatly that it blinded him from the  
evils that stirred in the world. It grew so heavy that when he saw the successes of  
Lan Hikari, Eugene's heart and soul was blackened. And now the consequence would  
be dealt.

And I give myself to you, damned crystal. You can feel that hatred can't you? There  
would have been nothing more that I would have wanted than to be in Hikari's place.  
He had Mayl, and having her would have suited me fine. But it never would have  
happened, even after she and Lan split. And now, I am the ringleader of the greatest  
Net Mafia in all existence. All this power and these followers and worshipers, yet  
never have I been so lonely. Never so lonely...

Eugene clasped his hands around Lervingthis. He could see the bright light, the light  
that was his soul, exiting his body. As it flew higher, as it should have, the moon  
crystal gleamed. Immediately the holiness of Eugene Chaud was pulled into the relic,  
swirling as the light became darkness.

Eugene stood up from his executive's chair, breathing loudly as though he had just  
awakened. He placed the crystal back around his neck, taking comfort that the  
nagging, holy side of him was sealed forever. His eyes flickered into hateful, pale  
lavender, twin orbs that would command the army that would scour the Earth for the  
sealed creators of Lervingthis.

Lervingthis had a sense of pity, and that pity was directed at Shin. She had so much  
potential, but she cast it all the way. Perhaps it was her childish innocence that  
allowed her to resist against the crystal. Either way, it didn't matter anymore.

When the child was with the crystal, Shin did not know how to feel. She knew  
nothing but survival, and was pretty much a mere animal living on the streets. She  
spoke no languages, nor did she need to. So it was easy implanting all the darkness  
within her, so delectably simple that Shin didn't know how to act any other way.  
Shin somehow managed to gain a conscience however. That was what disrupted  
everything. Lervingthis' deduction was that all human children carried a conscience,  
and it would never make that mistake again. Lervingthis untaught all that evil that it  
had from Shin, leaving only the good. That way, Shin's young conscience would  
painfully rot because she would feel responsible for all the evil things she had done.  
Of course, that was not true, but it sufficed Lervingthis. Shin would think no more  
evil thoughts, but she would suffer forever. At least until some unfortunate person  
found her and in fact, was one of her parents.

Lervingthis gleamed, turning its focus towards the task at hand. It commanded a  
new, more stable host now. Eugene tapped the intercom and ordered, "Miyu, Dex,  
get in here. We have some planning to do."

----------

Shadowman woke Mayl up. After talking the night before, she seemed to have slept  
contentedly. "Mayl, get up. Your friends will be here soon."

At that point, Mayl snapped awake. "What? Friends?"

"Megaman, Roll, Yai, Protoman, Meijin and Gateman. They've been following us since  
we first took off."

"And you want me to get up so we can leave?"

"No, I'm leaving you here."

Mayl drew a confused expression on her face. Before she could ask anything else,  
Megaman and the others burst through the woods and into the clearing.

"Mayl! I knew I'd heard your voice!" Roll exclaimed as she ran up and hugged her  
partner. Megaman ran past them and stood guardedly between them and  
Shadowman, buster cannon leveled.

"Nice to finally meet you again, Megaman," Shadowman remarked as he bowed  
courtly.

"Do you think I would forgive you that easily?" Megaman snapped angrily. He fired  
his buster cannon, which Shadowman easily slapped the attack down with a quick  
swipe of his katana. Before Shadowman could recover, Mega shot again, this time at  
his opponent's wrist.

Shadowman dropped his katana and grasped his hand in anguish.

"Megaman, stop!" Mayl found herself shouting.

"He killed everyone in that Anti-Navi tribe! Do you think that is forgivable?"

"I did not hurt anyone. We merely passed through, and when they wouldn't give us a  
place to stay, I stole a horse for Mayl," Shadowman retorted.

Mayl nodded. "It's true!"

"If it wasn't him, then who did it?" Meijin inquired.

"The same Navi that burnt down ACDC Town," replied a frosty voice. A patch of mist  
behind Shadowman solidified, revealing another Navi Megaman had fought before:  
Freezeman.

Behind him, the trees seemed to bend their branches low, and out stepped a young  
woman in a green cloak that hugged her body. She threw back her hood, revealing  
curled, and shoulder length hair.

"Sal?" Megaman asked in amazement. "I thought you died when SciLabs was  
destroyed."

"I barely made it," she commented as she leapt down from the tree and walked next  
to Shadowman. "And don't discredit Freezeman. He is no longer the Navi you knew,  
Megaman. ACDC was destroyed, and by the one he, Shadowman, Madoi, and I have  
been trying to stop."

"Madoi? That woman that hacked into the DenTown network and sent me and Roll on  
an bomb-rigged bus?" Mayl asked in disbelief.

"Yes, me." An incredibly voluptuous woman stepped out from the shadows, running a  
hand through her long, pink hair. Madoi seemed more of a model than a fighter, but  
Mayl knew personally how deadly she could be. "And together, my guess is that  
everyone calls us the Elementals."

"The Elementals are supposed to be the ones who awaken to restore balance to  
unbalanced dimensions. Since when did put kidnapping into their repertoire?"  
Megaman retorted. "Why did you take Mayl?"

"Because when Lan and Miyu were fighting, Miyu could sense people's spirits  
because she is an Elemental. We all can see another's spirits, and what each person  
thinks is the most important part of your life. Well, Lan isn't exactly going to give us  
what we want most, so we took what mattered to him most: Mayl," Madoi explained.  
"That thing we're after? It's Zergniethil, the crystal of Syrpiektre. It alone has the  
ability to stop the source of the paradox in our dimension."

Megaman and the others stared blankly, still not comprehending. Sighing, Madoi  
continued, "Alright kids, gather 'round the campfire for the morning ghost story. Let  
Grandpa Freezeman tell you all about it."

Freezeman scowled at Madoi, but he let it go. He explained emphatically. "At one  
time, four evil, celestial beings fought for power over all the dimensions in existence.  
Each one entailed their own set of demons, zombies, monsters, horrors, and other  
countless minions. Eventually, one of these dark forces created a seal, the IceFire  
Sanctuary, and bound the other three within it. One of these sealed forces was  
Dekargon, the leader of the Gorgon Goddesses. In her final moments, she created a  
crystal that beheld the dark essence of her, calling it Lervingthis. The crystal is a  
sentient, living thing with the ability to influence its current bearer's actions. It is so  
evil that the very holiness of one's soul is absorbed into it, giving it strength.

"Lervingthis' sole purpose is to locate the IceFire Sanctuary and revive its master.  
World War Two was caused because of this. Initially, the crystal was too weak to  
seek its master. Eleven million people seemed to work well, and all the holy energy  
of the Jews was perfect. But, when the crystal finally found the Sanctuary, the Allied  
Forces disrupted the ceremony of revival. The Earth was spared by mere minutes;  
while countless other dimensions have been destroyed because of it.

"Now, the entity that imprisoned the others for the sake of power was called  
Syrpiektre, the wolf spirit. It knew what Dekargon had done, so Syrpiektre created a  
crystal of its own to maintain the throne in which it stood: Zergniethil. Zergniethil is  
pretty much the opposite of Lervingthis, other than the fact that it will stop at  
nothing to maintain the control of Syrpiektre, whether if it means killing ten or ten  
billion. Now, whenever Lervingthis disrupts the equilibrium of the dimensions,  
Zergniethil activates to destroy stop it. The Hikari family was the last line of people  
to hold the power of Zergniethil. Lervingthis has awakened, and because Lan does  
not know his task nor his duty, it is up to us to take Zergniethil."

For a moment, no one spoke as they absorbed the enormity of the situation. The  
break of silence was a wince of pain from Shadowman. Everyone looked over to him,  
wondering what had hurt him.

"It's nothing," he replied as he removed his left hand from his other wrist. The place  
where Megaman had shot him was bleeding profusely.

Sal immediately went to his side. "Why didn't you say anything? You could have an  
infection! You aren't fully Navi anymore, you know that..." She began sucking out the  
blood that was in there and muttered something the others couldn't hear. A patch of  
herbs suddenly grew where the blood used to be. Sal quickly crushed the herbs with  
her boot and placed it over the wound, setting it with a blade of grass that she  
seemed to have placed a spell upon.

"Why are you bleeding, anyway?" Megaman asked.

"There are Elementals for each dimension. If the disruption had taken place in the  
Internet, Shadowman and I would have awakened as the Elementals of the Internet,  
but because we are now a part of the EarthNet, we are part human. That makes  
Madoi and Sal part Navi," Freezeman explained.

"But Wood, Electricity, Heat and Water are elements of the Internet. What about  
Earth?"

"The two elements of Earth are Depletion and Luminosity. The Elementals of those  
are supposed to be opposite-gender partners. Miyu Kuroi and Skullman represent  
depletion. Ms. Millions and Snakeman could have been a candidate for Luminosity,  
but Ms. Millions passed a long time ago. The only other known candidates were Yai  
and Glyde, but with Glyde's passing, it seems that there will be an imbalance within  
ourselves."

"So, what are you going to do?" Mayl asked. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"No one else but Lan has any use to us. If you want to help, stay out of the way,"  
Madoi snapped in a sudden rage. In a clap of thunder, the four of them were gone.

----------

Lan felt that something was wrong. He let Kael, the wolf virus he and the girl were  
riding, guide them, but he had no clue where they were going. Something did not  
feel right. The morning sun blazed with passion, and the air was not so much hot  
than it was humid. Which was what annoyed Lan; Electopia was not known for  
humidity.

"Whoa, heel, Kael," Lan ordered. The Hoah-gou skidded to a stop. "What the hell...  
happened?"

ACDC Town lay before him, torched to the ground. Not one building stood, save for  
the gate and Lan's house. From his seat atop Kael, Lan could make out the piles of  
charred corpses along the ground, infesting the air with a crisp stench. As they  
neared closer to the ruins, his eyes started to sting.

"Dammit!" he cried, frustrated. He looked down to see if he had awakened the girl,  
who was still resting peacefully against him. As he leapt off, the girl slumped softly  
forward, clutching the soft yellow fur as though it were precious.

Lan clutched the dry earth that lay before the gate. The small, watered clumps of soil  
dissolved at his touch. Just like everything else around him. He took out his halberd  
and cut open a hole in the border, making a way in for himself. He nearly fainted  
from nausea; the corpses were decomposing earlier due to the smoke damage.

He went through the town, unsure of his motives. He reached the now-crumbled  
rebellion headquarters. His hands went limp. His feet betrayed him, buckling as he  
slowly climbed each step. On the second to last step, he collapsed, both physically  
and emotionally.

Why? Why am I never able to make it all the way, to see it through to the end? I'm  
always late, late for everything. Mom, Dad, Hub, Megaman, and the list will only get  
longer. I couldn't even protect my baby when that damned Navi went after her in the  
hospital! It's exactly like Miyu said: my flaws have hurt me so badly, and it will only  
get worse. Yai, Glyde, Roll... his first tear dropped, and Mayl. Oh, god, not Mayl.

His heart clenched, each beat sending a painful, thudding ache in his chest. Every  
muscle, every fiber in his body was sore, tired by an unseen force, one that was felt  
within. Inside, every thought was another stab into him. The pain was so  
unbearable. His soul cried out in an unending wail, shrieking though the very reaches  
of his psyche, into places within himself he never knew existed. Everything had been  
so clear to him, his life, his future, his happiness. Now, everything seemed to taunt  
him, just out of reach.

Lan lied there, face planted against the step just one from the end.

Look at him. Isn't it such pity that someone who is supposed to be strong and  
powerful is in fact so weak? It's just sick!

"No!" Shin cried aloud. She woke up atop her furry steed, almost forgetting who she  
was. In a whisper, she murmured, "You're wrong..."

The voice within her heart spoke differently. Somehow, inside, Shin knew everything  
that she was thinking was wrong. Yet something kept tugging at her to believe it.  
Emotions do not help you; they only distract you from your goals!

"Emotions are what make me human, not some little girl-animal that runs on the  
streets begging for food!" she yelled at herself. Almost instantly, she realized that  
she had been describing who she was. "...I don't want to be some mindless being..."

With that, Zergniethil began to shimmer in full force. A light swathed around Shin  
sinuously. Conversely, a shadow crept out of her, which tried desperately to cling on  
to her soul. Gradually, the light grew in intensity and the shadow was soon banished.

Another voice spoke to Shin while the light slowly faded. Syrpiektre cares for neither  
the holy nor the unholy, other than the fact that the holy have ideals. Ideals and  
emotion are what fuels the best soldiers, and you are one of those soldiers...

At the final whisper of light, Shin closed her eyes and fell unconscious once more,  
atop her yellow steed.

--------

"Well, Gateman and I will be leaving," Meijin announced. "I've got to make sure  
everyone at ACDC gets a proper burial. I suggest that you search the nearest town,  
Kotobuki, for Lan. If the Elementals reach him first, then he'll probably end up being  
dead."

"And what are we going to do when we find him? Forgive him?" Yai scoffed. "After  
shooting up a hospital, chasing something that doesn't exist-"

"You don't know that!" Megaman burst out in fury.

"I do," Protoman said. The crimson knight hadn't spoken for the most part, but he  
felt that perhaps it was time for him to finally speak. "Lan is right. He wasn't insane  
because he wouldn't face his parents' death. That Navi was real, and it was after his  
and Mayl's daughter."

"What? But...how?" Roll asked, dumbfounded.

"My injuries were caused by that blue-black Navi. I overheard some people talking  
about the Navi and its purpose at the hospital, and I also heard that they found out  
the baby's alive. That's why I rushed out to tell Mayl."

Mayl sat on a stump nearby, trying to grasp at the sudden news.

"Of course, whoever I overheard knew I was there and sent that Navi after me. I  
never got a chance to say anything until now," Protoman continued.

"So we all misjudged Lan when he shot into the nursery. He was trying to stop the  
Navi from getting in..." Yai admitted guiltily.

"I say you should head over to Marine Harbor. Ask around, and you might find some  
information about him. It's only been four days, but maybe he walked around a bit  
after he stormed out." Meijin shrugged. He and Gateman got up to leave, and  
disappeared into the thick of the woods shortly after.

Megaman sighed. "So we're off to Kotobuki. Let's hope we find what we're after."

----------

Miyu did not like the feeling she had as she stepped closer to Eugene's office in the  
NetBattler HQ, which was stationed off in Netopia, a city in the former US.  
Something very powerful was in that room, and it resonated with the stench of  
rotting spirits.

Something powerful is amiss, Miyu. This amount of spiritual energy has never been  
registered before. I believe it would be best if we found the other Elementals. The  
encroaching darkness seems too near to be of good fortune, Skullman warned.

Miyu shook her head no. "Before we can decide on our current action, let's check this  
out."

Skullman still held an expression of circumspection, but he knew he would not be  
able to change her mind. As they entered the office, they found Dex and Gutsman  
already seated. Miyu gasped audibly when she saw what wrapped around Eugene's  
neck.

"So it was Lervingthis!" she hissed.

The doors slammed behind her, locking Skullman in as well. Eugene rose and  
commanded, "Restrain them."

Dex and Gutsman sprung out of their seats and wrapped their immense arms around  
the respective captive. Miyu didn't bother to waste her strength trying to get free.  
"What is it you want?"

Ignoring her, Eugene mused, "You know, for a representative of something as horrid  
as the element of Depletion, you have an amazing amount of resolve and will. For  
that reason, I know that you would go out of your way to try and stop me. But  
before I do anything, I will show you the amount of power that I have!"

He moved out into the balcony that over looked the HQ courtyard, where he had  
assembled every NetBattler in the building. Spreading his palms out, Eugene  
somehow caused the moon crystal to rise. Each and every living thing below began  
to glow brightly, as all the holiness in the Headquarters began to fade away.  
Lervingthis consumed every bit of energy, absorbing it all as hungrily as a starving  
tiger would with its kill.

Miyu nearly fainted from the surge of spiritual force. She felt every cry of anguish as  
the souls were devoured. When the moon crystal was finished, Miyu finally began to  
breathe again, in painful and ragged gasps.

"Pitiful."

Duo appeared from a surreal "rip" in reality. Miyu could barely see the waves of the  
temporal difference, but she was too weak to see clearly.

Duo spat in disgust. "This is supposed to be an Elemental? If you are to protect this  
dimension, then why are you so vulnerable to emotion? I do not see how you find  
her in anyway useful, Eugene. She would serve better as another toy for that sadist  
adoring the bruises he's giving her."

"And what of it?" Dex growled. "It isn't so much different as the ecstasy of watching  
the blood flow from a cursed opponent, is it?"

"That is a completely different idea than the grotesque bits that spin what might be  
left of your mind!" Duo retorted.

"Enough!" Eugene vociferated, his voice enraptured with fury. He turned back to the  
hundreds of soldiers than stood at attention before him. "You all know the desires of  
our deity! Scour every tribe, every town, every city for clues to the whereabouts of  
the IceFire Sanctuary! If you find anyone who does not wish to cooperate, take  
something that they hold dear! Force every living being into the cause!"

Miyu could not believe the roars of approval from all the people below. People? she  
asked herself. She felt nothing but a barren, desolate casket whenever she probed  
into the spirits of those below. It was as though the souls all left their bodies, which  
was precisely what had happened.

Eugene laughed maniacally as the NetBattlers below joined forces and began to  
teleport away. He turned back to Miyu after the final soldier had left. With a stern  
scowl, he pondered aloud, "Now why didn't I make you a mindless drone like the  
others? Ah, yes. I forgot that Elementals are minions of the deities themselves, and  
thus are immune to the vacuum of influence. Well, I do have other ways of making  
you one of us. Do you remember why you opened up that little antiquity shop in  
DenTown twelve years earlier?"

Skullman's eyes widened. "Leave Iriol out of this!"

"But, alas, I cannot. Iriol is so close to finding a way to awaken those in comas, the  
solution to the problem that keeps Ms. Kuroi's parents bedridden! It would be such a  
shame for him to become another pawn, wouldn't it?" Eugene snickered. "If you do  
not comply, then I will make Iriol one of them, and pull the plug from both your  
mother and father. So do you comply, Miyu?"

Head hung low, Miyu nodded. Iriol, her fiancée, and she had met when they were  
young, through the fact that his parents had known hers. They had agreed to take  
her in when Miyu's parents suffered an automotive accident that rendered them in  
comas. She spent her late teenage years with them and Iriol, eventually quitting  
school and running an antique shop to raise money to find a way to wake up her  
slipping parents. Iriol stuck with school, and because he loved Miyu so much, he  
decided to become a doctor to try and make her wish come true.

Now he was on the verge of an existence worse than death, and Miyu hung on but a  
single thread that could alter him forever. "What is it that you wish?" she inquired  
hopelessly.

"I'm setting you, Skullman, Dex, Gutsman, and Duo on a job of utmost importance. I  
want you all to find and destroy Zergniethil. You should start immediately, and it  
shouldn't be too hard considering that you have Elementals by your side."

Once outside of the office, Miyu shrugged off Dex and placed a small salve on her  
bruises to instantly heal them. She glared at Dex, and snapped out her scythes  
faster than Dex could believe possible. She had one scythe to his throat and one  
poised against his groin before he even began gawking. Leering, she hissed, "Keep  
your hands off of me. Touch me one more time, and I swear, I'll make sure you'll be  
embarrassed to ever drop your pants again."

As she put away her weapons, Duo laughed mockingly.

"I deem that was satisfactory, Lervingthis?" Eugene asked. The crystal gleamed in  
approval. Eugene turned to the photo that sat on his desk, one that he, Lan and Mayl  
had taken at Okuden Campgrounds twelve years back. "I will make you mine, Mayl.  
With Lervingthis, I will be able to make you mine forever!"

Eugene sat back in his reclining executive's chair, pondering all the possible ways he  
could lure her back to him.

----------

Lan sat back atop Kael, watching intently the slow rising and falling of the girl's soft  
breathing. He ran a hand through her luminous red hair, finding himself smiling for  
the first time in a long time. There was something about this young child that  
seemed to stir up something that Lan had buried within himself long ago. He did not  
know her name or anything about her, yet he felt an overpowering contentment as  
he continued to gaze at her exuberant innocence.

He noticed that she was clutching Zergniethil tightly in her grasp, so he removed it  
and placed it in one of the pouches of his travel pack. He seemed to arouse her, for  
she moaned and sat up.

"Finally up?" he asked. "Judging by the sun, it's practically noon."

"I was real tired, I guess," the girl responded.

"Well, judging by the look of things, I don't think there's much for me to live for,"  
Lan remarked gloomily. "There really isn't anything left for me to do but start all  
over with my life..."

"Whatever your life is, will I be in it?"

"Yeah... I guess you will."

- Fin -

- Notes/Explanations -

OOOOOOkkayy. I guess I owe everyone the ultimate of explanations here. I have  
decided to dissect my story into, quite possibly, a trilogy. I changed this part of the  
story's title from just plain "Dual Realms" to "Dual Realms: Paradox". I guess you  
could call this the prologue, then.

The reason this happened was because my original Chapter Four was a complete  
bust. Right in the middle of writing it, I had RLIS (Real Life Interference Syndrome),  
and the effects were so devastating that I completely lost sight of my goals. Now, I  
re-wrote all of Chapter four and came up with this. AAALLLL those sub-plots I had  
created were just bogging me down, and it was mostly my fault for doing so many!  
But hey, I just had that author's craving... I just wanted to write every possible story  
that popped in my head, all in one plotline. Of course, that's what RUINS authors,  
rather than helps them.

Anyhow, here's the (in a loud, booming echo) INTERESTING NOTES section:

-I forgot to mention this last time, but the Hoah-gous are the renames of the  
Spiky virus in the Battle Network series. Actually, Hoah and gou are Anglicized  
versions of the Chinese words for "fire" and "dog".

-Anyone notice that Syrpiektre is like a jumbled version of Pyrestrike? You can  
even check yourself; every letter is in there!

-Syrpiektre was a wolf-like entity, so is it any wonder that Zergniethil, a stone  
that represents Syrpiektre, would pick a pet like the wolf virus Kael to be a pet?

-Madoi is the Japanese name for the ex-WWW agent "Madd". I didn't like Madd as  
a name, and I don't like Madoi much either, but I prefer the latter apposed to the  
former.

-Sal's makeover was done by me... if anyone wants to make fanart of her new  
style it's up to you, but I sure as hell would be emphatic! If you want to flame me for  
making her like so, that's up to you, too.

-All that mythological stuff was made up by me. Every last bit of it, from crumb  
to cookie jar (how's that for a new analogy?). It was a painstaking process of picking  
out fantasy names, whether if I should include apostrophes or not, and the like. I am  
content with what I have, and you should watch out, 'cuz more about "Those  
God/Beast/Monster Things With Long Annoying Names" will be coming at ya!

-Yeah, it might seem a bit cheesy, but if some of you forgot... in the ending to  
Battle Network 2, Eugene decides to show up at the camp, and Mayl's still  
complaining about the knife. So what does he do? He hands her a knife and when  
she thanks him, he bubbles up and sayz, "Anything for you, Mayl." So my crappy  
jealousy between Eugene and Lan holds.

-Iriol is my own made up character. So is the whole accident thing with Miyu's  
parents. I needed to have something threaten her into being cooperative, and I  
didn't want to say something like "If you don't, I'll kill your brother! Yes, I  
kidnapped him and he's sitting under my citadel at the very moment!" I try to not  
sound like Pegasus from Yu-gi-oh, but they tend to just crawl up on you...

I think that's all from there... flip, flip, flip..." A-ha! Here it is! smacks paper. Now,  
onto my next topic: the next part of Dual Realms! Its title is pending, but I'm  
thinking "Dual Realms: Supplication". I'm open to ideas though, so lemme know  
what you think!

I'm not going to come out with this next one for maybe a couple of weeks. I'm  
thinking of becoming a columnist so that might be fun and a place  
to catch up w/ me. I also have to finally start my summer reading assignment, plus is doing the server jump. And I also have to plan out "Supplication"  
too.

While I'm gone, why don't you all mosey on down here:

http/ my original story, TPK. Read it, and I'm sure you'll love, or I'll swallow every bit  
of flaming that you've got!

I think that's all... Don't worry, you haven't seen the last of this plotline! Just some  
drastic changes, so bear with me. Post reviews here if you like, or if you're a  
member of the MMU Forums, post there. I would LOVE to see comments and stuff  
through e-mail, and so send away! I would also LOVE to see fanart for this, and if  
you do, I'll post it up on my site with utmost joy! If it's good (and I've got some  
pretty high standards), I might even turn it into a piece of advertisement for my  
story and your art!

Sigh I'll try not to keep my hopes up, cuz I know life isn't gonna revolve around  
me. Well, I guess that's all for now...

- Pyrestrike Out -

Correspondence/Review/Criticism:

On click below.  
E-mail: Battle Network Universe: go to the Arts section of the MMU Forum and post a reply there.


	5. Paradox :: Chapter 5: Locked Out

The following chapter was included 3 years ago, to inform my readers that I was going to discontinue the story. It is, in fact, obsolete. Go on to Chapter 6 to read on, or continue below if you would like to know why I stopped writing it those years ago.

**HOWEVER, BE WARNED THAT IT INCLUDES (A) MASSIVE SPOILER(S)!**

------------------------------------

Hello, everyone. I'm sure that many of you who read this are repeat readers. I know for a fact  
that I would be. Still, the news I bear will certainly anger, if not sadden, you. I have decided  
to discontinue this story. Yes, that is correct: the Dual Realms Saga will no longer exist. I  
will still keep this story up here, but no updates will come.

**SPOILERS **

Explanations are in order, I guess. Writing this story has been a very, very arduous task for  
me. I have not written a third-person story for a long, long time, and I was testing my hand  
at working with pre-made characters, not ones I designed fully on my own. Plus, handling all  
the concepts and sub-plots was a complete and insane hassle, and that tore up the story for  
me. The most annoying sub-plot to maintain was the fact that Shin/Tenshi was Lan and Mayl's  
daughter (oh my!), since I had to try to keep the relationship a secret while hinting at it for a while.

**END SPOILERS **

I am eternally grateful for all the feedback I received for writing this. I have forged some  
good friendships, even becoming a member of a reviewer's website. The only thing that kept  
me going was all the fans. I never actually had people respond to my work personally,  
without my asking beforehand.

Alas, this is not the end of my work. I am writing a new story, but it will be an original story.  
I am not sure how it will work, but it may just be a one-shot, sort of a transition until I can  
find a bigger story to work on. For the time being, my other stories are still up. The  
Phantom's Kiss, which is my most proud work of my lifetime of fifteen years, is there and  
just waiting to be experienced again. I urge you to read it if you liked Dual Realms. IceFire  
Sanctuary only has its first chapter up right now, and continuation is pending. It is a  
suspense fic, with some more gruesome scenes but there is plenty of other, more heartening  
events, including the ever great romance. The Covenant of the Antimagics is actually a  
co-written story, which I helped produce with my younger sister of twelve years. It is really,  
really funny and a great place to turn after such a dark time here.

Remember, this is not the end. If you would like to respond to this, just review. I will be in  
dormancy for a small while, searching for an inspiration to write about. Until then, keep me  
and the art of writing with you always.

Pyrestrike

If you would like to be updated to my work, just send an e-mail w/ the subject "Update me". That's  
all it will take, and I will bookmark you and keep you posted on anything I do. My e-mail address is remember to check out my other fics. The link is on my pen name. Thanks again.


	6. Absolution:: Chapter 1: An Angel's Plea

**EarthNet: Absolution**

A Megaman: Battle Network Fanfiction by Pyrestrike

Warning: This is not the normal, light-hearted material that many of you are used to seeing from other fanfiction writers and from Megaman: Battle Network. This fanfiction contains mature themes, vulgar language, extreme violence and crude sexuality. This is not recommended for younger viewers.

The "----------"'s means that there is a scene change or a big change in perspective.

The ""'s means that there's a small scene change, a change within the current scene or a small change in perspective.

Disclaimer: Megaman, Megaman: Battle Network, and related characters are copyrighted under Capcom. For the sake of good writing, I altered some names of characters. I do not own nor wish to attempt to abuse these copyrights. And if you see any characters/items or relics I made up myself, consider them copyrighted under me ,.

---------------------------

Pyrestrike: Minor update... I would like to ask new readers of their opinions and to leave ideas on what they would like to see as they story continues. It is more to brainstorm; and maybe it'll get some nice interaction between us as writers and readers. You can leave ideas in the review, but I prefer e-mail.  
TO--Kane: Thanks for the positive review. However... I'm not using "Maylu" because that isn't her original name gamewise. This is a Battle Network fic, not an NT Warrior one If "Mayl" is too awkward though I may consider using her Japanese name, Meiru. :shrug:  
------------------- 

**Prologue**

Sal moved toward the center of the clearing, extracting a long arrow from the enchanted quiver that held her ammunition. The grass spread away from the shadows that marked where her feet would stand, not wanting to be crushed under the weight. The night beheld a new moon, and the starless sky seemed all but surreal. The evening breeze became a powerful wind, sweeping across the small plain in short bursts. While most hair would be windswept and forlorn, Sal's curled lock entwined with the caressing movement in the air.

She sat on the stump in the center of the clearing, and wiped a smooth finger along the bladed tip of the arrow. It glowed for a couple seconds, then reverted as the dweomer was set.

_It has been nearly a year since I have last recorded the happenings of this twisted incarnation of a dimension. One year since Lervingthis' drones were unleashed upon the unsuspecting Earth. Towns were burnt to the ground, houses were plundered, the men lined up to be executed, women used for wholesale rape, children sent to slave labor… The tortures of the innocents are too gruesome for anyone to bear. The new terrorists called themselves NetBattlers. While none of the citizens of the world knew it, Eugene Chaud revealed himself as the ringleader behind the massacre of everyday life, the current host of Lervingthis, to the Elementals and I, along with some of the more observant citizens of the country. _

_Once the devastation began, the "real" NetBattlers seemed to turn full circle. Eugene opened up gates to newly built cities, claiming that he would offer salvation from the "zombies" that terrified the masses. Of course, the desperate public more than obliged. And because Eugene commanded those zombies from behind their backs, none of the new towns were attacked._

_But there was a catch. Eugene set his new nation of people to work on the project that the other Elementals and I had feared the most – the creation of a replica of the IceFire Sanctuary. The seal was beginning to be recreated, after the destruction by the last saviors in the year 2002. The project began just yesterday, and considering all those that had fled to Eugene, the seal would most likely be completed in mere months._

_The Elementals and I are not sure where to turn to find out how to stop the coming resurrection of Dekargon and her Gorgons. Zergniethil was never found, by neither us nor Mayl's troupe during their search for Lan. We scoured all of the country of Electopia searching for him, but nothing ever turned up. The last that was ever heard of them was four months ago, when Lan, a lovely-looking seven-year-old he called "Tenshi", or "angel" in Japanese, and a large Hoah-gou virus Tenshi affectionately called "Kael" appeared in Marine Harbor. They ended up saving the town from the horde of drones, who happened to be soul-less NetBattlers, and disappeared shortly afterward. The girl suspiciously was able to use magic; I personally believed that was Zergniethil's hand in the matter and that Lan still had the relic._

_My theory was shot down, however, when a body floated in Marine Harbor, clutching a faded blue headband. A procession was made for Lan, and Mayl and Co. disembarked from us. Mayl did not search for her daughter, despite the news that her daughter was alive. After the attacks on so many of the cities, Mayl reluctantly concluded that no child would stand a chance in the macabre attacks. She and her friends became another resistance group, this time for Kotobuki, which remains one of the few standing cities not under the control of Eugene. They stand as protectors of the town, not rebels aiming for a cause. This time, they accepted their fate and wished to make the most of their lives._

_Freezeman, Madoi, Shadowman and I have not yet begun to rest however. Zergniethil is still out there, and whether if it is in Tenshi's grasp or in at the bottom of the harbor where we found Lan, we will find it. This is Sal Kuisendroah, with what may be my final recording, at least until some relevant news has been found._

Sal closed her eyes and pressed her lips against the arrow, sending all that she had just telepathically transmitted into it. Whoever found the arrow would immediately "hear" everything she had said. Sal had used countless other arrows as time capsules, reminders for the future. In a somewhat ritualistic manner, Sal snapped out her bow and shot it into the youngest tree in the surrounding woods.

She got up and looked at the empty sky once more. "Is the quest the Elementals and I set ourselves to as bleak as this?" she said, although she was certain no one had heard her; a sudden gust carried the words away from their initial direction. Pulling the hood of her cowl again, she walked back to the campgrounds where she found that Shadowman had stayed up, waiting for her.

--------------------

**Chapter One: An Angel's Plea**

Mayl tugged her coat closer to her, trying to shield out the frigid snow. The soft, semi-frozen droplets packed atop the roofs of the many stores in Kotobuki, the place she now called home. Her red hair adorned bands of white, and once she finally got into her house she shook out the snow that had clumped on her.

"Hot chocolate? Coffee? Tea? Warm water?" Roll asked as she took off Mayl's coat and placed it into the closet. Roll still had on her nightgown, having just awakened from her slumber. The Navi armor had come off long ago, since the more the EarthNet combined, the more melded the two worlds became. While the armor and weapons remained a part of the Navis' natural bodies, they now came on and off at will.

"Tea would be fine. You know how high-strung I can get when I have too much caffeine," Mayl admonished. She stepped into the living room and took a seat on the couch. "Megaman's still sitting up atop the ruined apartment complex, you know."

Roll sighed as she came back into the room with the tea. "I still don't see what the ritual of being up there is for."

Mayl shrugged in reply, unsure of Megaman's motives either. As Roll left to change out of her clothing, Mayl averted her gaze to the window. Children were actually frolicking in the white powder, a rare sight for the times. Peace was a term of oblivion now, but moments of temporary contentment were still existent, even if they were few and far between.

Mayl watched a girl across the street, who had on a cute ankle-length dress and a windbreaker. She figured the girl was around eight or nine years old. The girl wore a broad smile across her face as beautiful as the lovely blue beret on her head, and while that was lovely in itself, nothing seemed more amazing than her hair: a painter's auburn, a perfect mixture of red and brown. It pranced with her as she walked casually across the sidewalk, her golden, spiky furred puppy tagged along closely at her heels. A sudden gust blew the hat off the girl's head, but luckily her father was standing nearby and caught the beret as it blew past.

The father was strikingly handsome as well, with brown, windswept hair and amorous brown eyes. His glasses exemplified his look of professionalism, and as Mayl watched him hand the hat back to his daughter, she began to wonder whether if she would have been able to live just as peacefully with Lan, had he been alive. She looked away for a moment to dab out the tears that limned her eyes. When she turned back, the father said something to the girl. The daughter nodded, and skipped away from the window's view. The father walked after her, smiling contentedly.

"If only I could live like that," Mayl mused to herself.

----------

"This has got to be the worst assignment in the history of our campaign, wouldn't you agree, Miyu?" Dex complained.

"_Your_ campaign, not mine," she corrected. The thought of having to spy with such a lumbering giant was disgusting. Even more despising the fact that Miyu had to stay inside the tent with the lummox, but there was no other choice. Every order from Eugene came with the reminder that Iriol and her parents would be killed. Her misery as a slave would continue until the inevitable was achieved: the IceFire Sanctuary revived, and the wrath of Dekargon would be wrought upon the dimensions. She sighed at her hopelessness.

"Shut up," Duo snapped. He was crouched on a branch of the tree in which Miyu and Dex were lying against. "You sound like a bitch giving labor to her pups, whining and annoying. Your thoughts are most trying!"

"Then get out of my head. Maybe then you won't have so much of a hard time coping with me," Miyu retorted.

Skullman and Gutsman appeared from the edge of the treeline. Skullman seemed as somber as Miyu was. He grimly reported, "They went back into the house."

"Yai's up'n the watchtower," Gutsman grunted. "Dunno why, though."

"If Eugene wants Mayl so bad, why doesn't he just up and snatch her out of there? It isn't like anyone'd stop him," Dex theorized.

Miyu slapped the back of his forehead. "Do you think she'll come willingly? Eugene wants us to make her helpless and lose everything close to her before he makes any kind of move whatsoever. Plus, if he takes this city, there's a prime example for him to set for the rest of the free cities out there. It's called a _plan_, ya big ox."

"Take that back!" Dex pouted. Miyu already had a scythe at his most coveted body part, so Dex didn't say any more.

"And I thought Miyu was the slave," Duo chuckled. "Alright. We have our information. We can strike."

----------

"What is it, Lervingthis?" Eugene asked the moon-shaped crystal.

The wash of faint colors flowed in and out of Eugene's mind, a message saying how pointless it was that he would continue to pursue Mayl and Kotobuki. A much fiercer set of colors slammed into him, telling him that immediate action and focus should be spent upon the recreation of the IceFire Sanctuary.

"But that is the brilliance of my plan. If I can make the most guarded free city fall, all the others will tremble under our feet, and that would in turn add more slaves to quicken the resurrection."

And you will also have a bitter queen by your side. A sly plan, if it were not tainted with such emotion Lervingthis reprimanded in another set of colors. In a more curious selection of blues and grays, it added But what of the Depletion Elemental? Miyu has just about had it with you. Inflict as much pain while you can

Eugene did not know what to do for a moment. The sudden thought of saying no came into his head, but before he even realized what he was saying, he replied, "Do not fear, Lervingthis. I am headed toward the infirmary now." He pressed the electronic pad to open the air lock to the room, and walked over to the beds of Miyu's parents.

Iriol, Miyu's fiancée and the reason why she remained a pawn, was typing feverishly across the room. His bronze-colored hair remained a matted mess, due to his consistent hours at work and study.

In feigned innocence, Eugene inquired, "How goes the research, Iriol?"

Iriol swiveled around in his chair, as though he had not heard Eugene come in. Ecstatically, he reported, "Well, I believe that in another couple of weeks I might be able to finally begin the testing phase of the Comatose Patient Revival. Kind of my own play on the acronym of CPR."

Fingering Lervingthis, Eugene smiled and said bluntly, "Good. I'm sure Miyu will be glad to hear it."

"Thanks again for funding this project. I'm sure Miyu appreciates it too. And for all that you've done for those running away from those damned terrorists claiming themselves as NetBattlers, I'm sure they appreciate your dedication as well. By the way, this past few months Miyu has been acting strangely towards me. Like my last days were almost here."

Grinning, Eugene replied, "Not almost. Already." A purple light shot from Lervingthis and captured Iriol's soul. It added itself into the relic and made Iriol nothing more than a hollow casket. "Go into the training division of the Headquarters. Pick a weapon and train yourself with that proficiency until you have mastered it."

Iriol nodded absently and trudged heavily out of the room. Eugene walked over to the electricity switch to Miyu's parents' cubicle. Lervingthis gleamed in delight as Eugene turned it off, effectively sending the Kuroi parents into the afterlife. He walked back into his office.

In another slew of shades, Lervingthis said in glee, I was hoping that you'd get rid of the Elemental. Now let us tend to the construction!

Although Eugene knew he was supposed to see to the attack on Kotobuki, he found himself nonetheless obeying the crystal's commands. Even as he passed his open hourly planner, he walked to the balcony. He surveyed the large seal that would be the IceFire Sanctuary. A large circular area with three points marked the places where the seal was bound. The hundreds of naïve workers whom Eugene had "saved" were diligently working on recreating the seal.

"They are still unconscious to the fact that the reason the NetBattlers were evil was because you sapped their souls. The workers believe that the seal they are creating would be able to stop the marauding NetBattlers," Eugene noted.

Yet it will only release my greatest desire and fulfill my destiny: resurrecting the Gorgon Goddesses and their Queen, my master Dekargon! Lervingthis gleamed in unholy elation.

Although Eugene's soul was long gone, he still found it disturbing to hear something so ambitious from a relic. He viewed its power as something that could be used for so much more, but he was nothing more than the embodiment of its actions.

Alright. We can leave, host

Eugene almost spat aloud, "More like slave," but he held his tongue. He stepped into the Kotobuki teleport system and left his office.

----------

A bright, glowing light pierced the infinite blackness of the dimension labeled _The Abattoir_. Klev'trath, the demon observer banished eons ago stared in wonderment as the light became an immense wolf, thousands of hands high. "Syrpiektre…" Klev'trath murmured. "What is it that you wish, Master of Dimensions?"

The beast's fur rippled from the non-existent wind that passed in and out of the dungeon. In a surreal, soft yet deep voice, it asked, "Klev'trath is the name, correct?"

Klev'trath, in a dazed wonderment nodded in confirmation.

"I have a task besigned upon you. You reward will be… absolution from this dungeon. Will your heart…or what's whatever is in there be willing to partake upon my favor?" The entity's long eyes narrowed even more, shifting from a blue to a bloody red.

Klev'trath clasped its hands in mock thought. "It is not so much of a choice, is it? But for freedom from this darkness, that is not enough." It reclined in a comfortable manner against an imaginary lounge chair. "I am getting rather used to it here. Everything holds a nice shade of black, do you not agree?"

Syrpiektre howled so ferociously that the entire dimension shook. A bolt of blue-purple energy shot down and incinerated one of Klev'trath's wings. As it howled in pain, Syrpiektre warned, "That will teach you to toy with a deity. If you wish, I will give you an entire universe to plunder. A name is all I need and it will be yours. Now, to the more pressing matter: as you know, Dekargon is trying to resurrect herself. I cannot and will not allow it. You are to become a partner to this human." Syrpiektre swiped one of its many tail as a dimensional rip displayed whom it was referring to.

"Lervingthis' current host? The one named Eugene Chaud?" Klev'trath began scheming on how to capture the crystal as its own immediately. It forgot the power of the deity before him.

"You are not going to have it, demon. You are to watch and report every move he makes. You will never touch Lervingthis."

"But the crystal can sense one's motives, can it not?"

"I shall shield you from it."

"Then why don't you do this yourself? Or call out an angel?"

"I have matters at hand in the Earthen year 2002; the past needs a bit of cleaning. And besides, you forget that angels only exist in the pitiful minds of humans; you have been watching them too much. In this time- **MY TIME**, the only things that exist are you demons and the inhabitants to the other dimensions, no angels or anything of the blasphemous lot. And after this final event, only **DARKNESS** shall remain. No longer will I have to deal with such selfish, greedy beings. Once I have completed the task of destroying the IceFire Sanctuary and eliminating all living beings, I will create a void to destroy every stressing dimension in existence."

"It does not sound like I will gain much from this," Klev'trath mused.

"You will keep the one dimension you want most, like I said before. I will let you live. Or, the alternative would suit me just fine. I could condemn you to be tortured by all the victims of your playful reign of power," Syrpiektre threatened.

Klev'trath threw his hands up and knelt before the entity, fearing the "alternative" more than anything else. "I shall take your offer. But my last question is why you must destroy everything that you worked so hard to create?"

Syrpiektre's eyes shifted again, to a deadly lavender flame. "These humans are destined to visit other dimensions; They've already combined the Earth and Internet dimensions together. If I could just kill their dimension, things would be easier, but they are resourceful, and will find some way to survive. I might as well start from scratch again. Now, off with you. You would serve much better use watching Lervingthis for me."

Klev'trath was about to say more, but the crash of lightning and thunder already sent him towards the office of Eugene Chaud.

----------

"We have arrived," Freezeman announced.

Madoi threw up her hands in joy. "Kotobuki, at last!"

"Shut up…" Sal hissed softly. She and Shadowman were perched on trees opposite each other on the path while Madoi and Freezeman were walking. Shadowman's eyes darted around, as though he sensed something.

"What is it?" Freezeman asked his fellow Navi. A quick and sudden pang of energy flowed though his soul. They all nodded.

"Miyu is here," Shadowman said grimly. "I'm sure she senses us too."

Madoi seemed to want to say something telepathically to Miyu, but Freezeman quickly touched her shoulder with one icy hand. Madoi jumped away, startled, and snapped, "What was that for?"

"You forget that Eugene and Lervingthis has a mental leash on her," Freezeman admonished. He did not know why or how such a pouting woman would be one to protect the world, but he knew that gods played in strange ways, Syrpiektre in particular. "Shall we go and pay—"

Another pang of spiritual energy waved through him. This one seemed more of an intense shock rather than the wavering presence that Miyu resonated.

Madoi looked to the others. "What was that?"

"That was Yai's Elemental energy. But she isn't an Elemental; Glyde passed over a year ago," Sal said, her eyes suddenly alert.

Freezeman knew better. "She and Protoman must officially be partners. Luminosity has been activated."

"Still… What could have made her so excited as to send out a wave of energy like that?"

"Either she just awakened as an Elemental, or she saw a ghost," Shadowman theorized. Shrugging, he added, "Then again, it could be both."

----------

Yai fell back against the wall of the watchtower. "No way…"

She peered out farther, trying to confirm her suspicions. The leaves on the trees were rustling toward her in a wave-like fashion. Her target was beneath the flora. As the golden streak blew past, she could feel the strange warmth that she had felt for a few days now. Her breath quickened as the captivating object continued to dart through the forest.

"It's down there again?" Protoman asked from below.

"You can tell?"

Protoman nodded, tousling some of the camouflaged snow from his long white hair. The visor that he normally wore was gone, just like all Navis' helmets and armor; they were replaced with a white beanie and a thick red windbreaker. It took a while to get used to, but the EarthNet was almost completely integrated now, and he was finally getting used to the temperature shifts of the seasons. He tossed one lock of hair away from his eyes as he replied, "I can feel everything you do, too. It's been happening for the last few days now. What is it that you're looking for?"

Yai leapt down from the tower, dusting herself off once she touched down. Too lazy to brush the blonde wisps from her blocking her vision, she casually strolled toward Protoman. "I've been tracking something outside. It feels vaguely familiar somehow, but something else about it is bugging me."

"The fact that it gives off some sort of weird feeling?" Protoman guessed.

"Yeah. I think it might be a Gold Hoah-gou. One of the leader-types."

Protoman raised an eyebrow. "But the last time any Hoah-gou was here was when—"

"Exactly. And if there's one here, now, it just might be one of the keys to finding Zergniethil."

"Are you sure that this is it? I mean, this one might be a stray, not the one that girl was riding that helped save Kotobuki."

Yai shrugged. "I hope so. Even if that was over six months ago, it might also lead to something about Lan. Like why he washed up in Marine Harbor dead, or why he was even out at sea in the first place." After a small silence, she walked up to Protoman and stared into his eyes deeply. Something was happening between them, but she was not sure what. Sighing, she said, "Come on. Let's go get breakfast."

Protoman stared at her strangely. "Navis don't eat though."

"Yeah, but you're the one with our PET, remember? Without that, how am I gonna pay for any food?"

"Oh. I almost forgot about that." As he reached into one of his jacket pockets, he suddenly gripped his stomach fiercely.

Yai grabbed a hold of him before he could topple into the snow banks. "What's wrong?"

Through clenched teeth, he responded, "A weird feeling in my torso is hurting me. Like I've been drained of energy."

Yai's eyes brightened. Using one hand to steady Protoman, she quickly slipped a dagger from her snow pants. She quickly ran it against the back of Protoman's hand. He quickly dropped his other hand to hold it. "Move your hand," she calmly ordered.

Wincing, he retorted, "What was that for?"

"Just move it!"

He complied. A cut formed where she had sliced with her dagger. Blood flowed slowly, dripping and staining the matted snow. "I'm…bleeding?"

"You aren't fully human anymore. Just like Shadowman did, when we found Mayl a year ago. You—We're Elementals."

Before either of them began to grasp the sudden news, a distress beacon flew up from the top of the ruined Koto Apartment Complex Tower. The pattern of flares spelled out their situation clearly.

----------

"Attacking in broad daylight?" Megaman stood at the top of Koto ACT, the tower where the last place a net criminal called headquarters. He activated his helmet and armor, covering up his clothing and black hair.

Trees just outside the gates began to fall, the usual sign of an invasion. The difference was the time; if anyone was willing to attack while the sun was out, they must have been prepared. And Mega was right. In place of the trees, huge energy cannon viruses appeared, each on standing nearly twice the height of any human or Navi. "We're surrounded," he murmured to himself.

He switched his buster into flare mode, shooting up the warning signal that they were in worst-possible conditions. Just as he was about to get down, he looked back outside once more. A swarm of Polar Cubes, bear-like viruses, began to trudge out of the forest, stopping at the cannons. An equal number of NetBattlers appeared behind them.

"Damn," he spat. He slid down one side of the ACT, jumping off before he crashed into the snow. Mayl ran up to meet him.

"Cannons were placed with tree cover with Polar Cubes and NetBattlers to back them up. We're in for it, Mayl."

Yai and Protoman ran to join them. They were enlisted as protectors to the city, but this was a hopeless case. The sheer size of the force put them in a complete disadvantage. Before anyone else spoke, the attack began.

The gates withstood the initial blasts from the cannons, buckling under the power. Grappling hooks appeared over the gates, and the cannons launched a second barrage, this time tearing dents into the barrier. By the time the third barrage began, ten seconds into the attack, the NetBattler invaders were already at the top of the gates, and the Polar Cubes were aligned with the holes they bore with their powerful glacier-blocks. Finally the ringleaders appeared. Eugene, Miyu, Skullman, Dex, Gutsman appeared, along with a large blue-black armored Navi behind them. They were floating on some invisible disk, and hovered towards them.

----------

"What do you want?" Mayl asked, taking out her energy rings.

Grinning, Eugene replied, "Nothing but you, dear."

Mayl narrowed her eyes. "The people of Kotobuki would rather die here and now than be some pawn of yours."

"Then have it your way. You can watch everyone around you crumble into pieces, and then we'll see what your decision is," Eugene threatened. He leapt off the invisible platform and took out his falchion, a curved sword with a slowly thickening 4-foot blade.

The others on the platform followed his lead, except for the blue-black Navi. Before getting off, he shouted, "Witness the fall of Koto, as did ACDC!"

"This will be my battle," he said once he touched down. "Let all of them feel the bitter blade of my sword!"

The people of Koto were already armed to battle. Some of the roofs to the houses stored cannons, and others got onto the streets with their own weapons, ready for close combat. Roll took out her Kukris, daggers that hit a 130-degee angle after the hilt. Megaman had his buster readied, and Protoman had his sword arm. Yai had her daggers.

Mayl took one step towards their opponents. The Navi did the same. Before they began to fight, a huge, golden Hoah-gou sprung out of an alley and skidded to a stop between them. The seven-year-old girl and father she saw earlier jumped down from it. "This is my fight, Mayl," the father said.

The Navi growled. "HIKARI!"

Lan quickly patted on Kael, telling the Hoah-gou to go. As Duo lunged toward him, Lan quickly dodged to the side. His brown eyes washed over into a gray fury, and he unhooked the dagger in his pant leg, tossed it up and threw it into the back of Duo's right leg. "Tenshi!"

Kael quickly swung around, and Tenshi, still riding it, held out her hand and muttered, "Illumia Pe'arsei." A cache of arrows of light encircled Tenshi, and stormed into Duo's back. She quickly cast another spell to trap Duo, already out cold from the vicious barrage, into a glowing box.

"Lan? I heard they found your body washed up on Marine Harbor, completely mangled and disfigured. I guess forensics isn't what it used to be, eh?" Eugene cackled.

Lan took off his glasses, glaring at Eugene with flaring gray eyes. "Get out of here. These people are under my protection now."

Eugene laughed again. "And what makes you think that you have the advantage? I have more guns around here than you can count to."

Mayl stepped up to Lan. "I don't even know how you're here, Lan, but he's right; there are cannons and Polar Cubes stationed all over the perimeter."

"I know," Lan grinned. "Tenshi! Blow them away."

"And that little girl is going to improve my situation?"

Tenshi leapt up. "Just watch me! Deakon Silektro!"

A cloud cover fell over the city quickly. As thunder began to roar, bolts of white and purple energy crashed into the cannons, disabling them instantly. A third of Eugene's force was sizzling in two seconds. Lan merely smiled.

"If you want, we can settle this ourselves, but away from here."

"The planet is my playground!"

With that, Eugene lunged with his falchion. Again Lan dodged to the side, taking out his double halberd. As the twin energy ax-blades and spears appeared, Lan quickly kicked Eugene farther away, to give himself some time to steady the heavy weapon. He sensed the battle beginning about him, as the roof-top cannons were already being fired and the people were shouting in fury. He remained focused on his target however, and swung down in an overhead arc.

Eugene rolled backward and threw a small sickle at Lan. Lan was unprepared for the quick counter and the curved, miniature scythe cut into his side. Lan fell down to one knee, but swept Eugene with his halberd to trip his opponent. He caught a glimpse of the horrible wound, which cut deep into his left side, right before his vision began to swim from the uncontrollable bleeding.

"Father!" the girl cried.

Dex considered the petite child for a moment. Her fiery, auburn hair seemed so silky and soft… much like that woman he toyed with a year back. After a second of thought, the woman's name came to him: Shin Arashi. This girl seemed so much more stronger than the bitch he slapped around, even if she was years younger. Dex grinned at the thought of adding her to his collection of toys at HQ.

As she ordered the golden Hoah-gou toward Lan, he and Gutsman quickly intercepted. "Knock it down!" he ordered.

Gutsman slammed into the spiky-furred virus' side and rammed it into the nearest house. As the wolf fell on its side, the girl jumped up to the roof and called out to her steed, "Kael, hang on!"

Dex jumped up to meet her, taking out his energy ax in the process. "You remind me of someone, girl. It will be lovely to see those innocent eyes and fiery hair tainted." He tossed his weapon from hand to hand, and grinned while the enticing images flashed through his mind. He began to drool from all the thinking, and he lurched toward the girl.

"Infiernos!" she quickly cried as she jumped up and over him. Because of her panic, the spell misfired and the rubble underneath the house caught fire instead. As the red flames tinted her fair skin, she remained frozen, as though locked in memory. She stood, shaking and crying. Just as Dex prepared another attack, a green-cloaked woman interceded and leapt off the roof, going hundreds of feet into the air to the top of Koto ACT.

"Damn you, Sal!" Dex spat.

Yai and Miyu traded parries, neither one besting the other. Every time one of them tried to act, the other anticipated it. Yai flipped back and spun forward, her daggers in an equally dancing motion. The blades twirled about, so quickly the only way they were seen was the glint of the refracting sunlight. Miyu still dodged or blocked each attack. Her scythes were moving at an equal rate to counter every move. They both flipped back and were at a deadlock. Both were breathing rapidly, their jackets torn in dozens of places yet neither had a mark of damaged skin.

"You have awakened, Yai. Your spirit shines as much as Lan's does," she remarked with a wry smile.

Yai glared. "And if you know that, then why are you fighting me? Your spirit is just as much tainted as Dex's if you wish to continue this."

"Do you believe this is my decision!" Miyu coughed haggardly, as memories and threats flooded into her mind. Tears limned her eyes as she lunged again.

Yai anticipated this easily and dodged to the side while hitting Miyu square in the back to knock her to the snow. "Then stop this! What does Eugene have that has you on a leash? We can help!"

Miyu's body suddenly burst with black energy radiating from her. Just as instantly it subsided. She rolled back to avoid Yai, but her clouded thoughts didn't let her think of an effective counter once here roll was complete; Yai stood over her with a dagger to her heart. "What could he possibly have? Look inside me, Luminosity! My parents are in the infirmary! And if I don't comply, my fiancée is as good as dead! Iriol would become an empty—"

Yai jerked up in surprise. "Iriol is your fiancée? He's my cousin! I thought he left for another country years ago…"

Before any response came from Miyu, a bright beacon flashed from Kotobuki Apartment Complex Tower. Intense energy thundered through the two Elementals, throwing them back. They knew what it was immediately.

"Zergniethil…"

Sal gave Shadowman Zergniethil and kept her arms wrapped over the girl. "We need all our powers. Let me drop off the girl. This battle will be over soon."

Sal went back down the Koto ACT, leaving the other Elementals at the top. After reaching the ground, she ran over to one of the houses in the area and laid the girl against it. She'd known that the girl was the keeper of Zergniethil, but she couldn't find a way to track her down, especially after Lan had "died". After making sure the unconscious girl was okay, she went back up the ACT.

Madoi grinned as she began to charge up a freak thunder storm. The blue clouds of snow were completely blanketed by the thunderheads that rolled in, blackening the sky with fury. As three bolts of lightning struck the ground below, the masses of fighters turned to the four Elementals position atop the ACT.

"Damn… you, Elementals," Eugene stuttered as he weakly rose. "Dekargon is the only true God, and Lervingthis her avatar!"

Shadowman smirked. "You have not yet begun the fight. Witness the power of Syrpiektre, and Zergniethil!"

Tenshi slowly awoke. She gasped and ran over to Lan, hoping that he was okay. "Daddy!" She held out her hand over her father's wounded side, and suddenly felt a fluttering within her. A searing light fell over Lan's cut, and once she opened her eyes again, it was fully healed.

"Thanks… for the healing spell… Tenshi," Lan said groggily.

"But—I didn't—Zergniethil's not even with me right now," she stuttered. "How could I have healed you?"

Lan got up. "It doesn't matter."

Just as he finished his sentence, a pulsing light shot from the Koto ACT and into a NetBattler nearby. The NetBattlers body dispersed into nothing instantly.

"And Zergniethil will destroy every one of you soulless caskets!" they heard someone shout from the ACT.

"Go find Kael, Tenshi," Lan ordered. He quickly ran back into the fray.

Just as she began to move, another man suddenly flew backwards into the house she had rested against. She ran over to him, and tried doing the same thing she had done to her father. Instead of her glowing, the man's body began to glow, and after a short while she saw a glowing orb coming to him from the distance.

"That's a soul…" she whispered as the orb began to descend into the body.

Just then, a woman and a female Navi jumped in between her and the man, carrying Tenshi away as a light shot into him and destroyed his body.

The blonde-haired Navi admonished Tenshi. "You shouldn't be around the NetBattlers."

The woman, putting away her energy rings, nodded. "They're soulless, and they'll all be destroyed by Zergniethil up there anyway."

"But I could have saved him! His soul was returning! Didn't you see the ball… the man's soul?"

The other two looked oddly at her. Tenshi looked out to the battle raging around her. The people of Kotobuki began cheering as the enemy began to dwindle in size. Others, the ones that the women called NetBattlers, were fleeing the scene. Zergniethil tracked them down easily, barraging ray after ray of energy to disintegrate them. Tenshi looked helplessly at her hands. "All of them… could have been saved. Doesn't Zergniethil know that? It helped out people before, but why is it killing them now?"

The woman looked down at the girl and said in alarm, "Hey! You called Lan, 'Daddy!' You're Tenshi, aren't you?"

Instead of answering, Tenshi leapt down from the roof and towards Lan. He said something to a blue-armored Navi and took off toward the gates. She couldn't absorb any of this. The people began to hail Zergniethil and Syrpiektre, cheering for their good fortune. To Tenshi, the residents of Kotobuki were just as much the drones of the coming war than Dekargon's agents and the NetBattlers.

"Daddy, wait up!"

----------

Eugene stepped out of the teleport, as did Skullman and the others. They gathered around the office silently. "Damn that Navi and all of Syrpiektre's cohorts!" Eugene cried madly, slamming his desk into two. Skullman stepped back a bit, noting how Lervingthis was darkening intensely; the light around it seemed to be sucked in, like a void.

Eugene looked towards him and Miyu. "I want you two to take Duo and yourselves to Marine Harbor. Go and look out for the Elementals, and crush them by surprise. They'll think I want the next free city, and if we can surprise them early enough I can move in and occupy the town."

Skullman raised an eyebrow curiously. "Don't you already have NetBattlers in place?"

Eugene nodded. "But they will not be able to hold against Syrpiektre's power and his damned avatar, Zergniethil. We need you and Miyu's abilities as Elementals and Duo's abilities as a fighter there. I must stay here and make sure those fools that entered my "free cities" are doing their part in rebuilding the IceFire Sanctuary."

"Then let me get some things before—"

"They've been taking care of for your arrival."

"But we have to talk to—"

"Iriol's fine. Now leave immediately."

Skullman sensed an air of wariness, but he knew there was nothing neither he nor Miyu could do. Together they stepped into the teleport, all the while knowing that something would go terribly wrong again.

----------

The attack only started in the morning, and because of the girl's efforts in destroying the cannons, most of the gate had been repaired before the cannons could do any real damage. The remainder of the day after the attack was spent repairing whatever homes needed it and patching up the holes in the city barrier. After nightfall, the people of Kotobuki were content that they could survive another day and left back to their daily routines, celebrating the fact that Syrpiektre and his Elementals had blessed them for a day.

Roll stepped up to the top of Kotobuki Apartment Complex Tower. She slowly sat down beside Megaman, gazing out to the moon. For the first time in her life, she sensed an omniscient laughter, a know-it-all cackle from the radiance of the lunar sky. Things were not how they had seemed at the start of the day.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" she whispered softly.

Megaman looked curiously at her.

She cast her gaze to the cold metal she was resting on.

"You know, this is the first time I've been up here."

"And do you see why I am always up here?"

Roll nodded, placing her hand on his. "You never really did think that was Lan we buried, huh? I mean, even if he disappeared after the battle, now we know that he's alive."

"I'm sure he'll show up tomorrow; he said to me that he 'still had business to take care of' before I could even say hi."

Megaman moved closer to her. They sat silently, staring at the stars. The sense of tranquility seemed surreal though, like it wouldn't last. As each twinkle elicited a tear, Roll felt that the hell they lived in was everything but a dream. "Still, escapes like this are what we live for, I guess," she whispered softly to herself.

Megaman looked at her oddly. "What do you mean?"

She wiped away her tears. "Nothing… just that times like these are too few and far between."

He nodded in agreement, recognizing the sorrow that the fight would continue, and let her lay her head against his shoulder. They ignored the darkness the new moon cast upon them, and embraced the light the stars gave from the heavens.

----------

"The Elementals have gone, and they're probably out to head overseas and attack Netopia and the NetBattler HQ," Lan said as he lazily entered his room in the roadside inn he found while he was "hunting." He spent the rest of the day after the battle cleaning out the remaining Polar Cubes, even though he wished he was at Kotobuki helping out his not-so-dead friends.

Tenshi looked crestfallen and distraught. She sat on her bed, absently staring at Kael as she stroked the now-puppy virus' fur. Lan decided that tomorrow would be a better time to reintroduce himself and Tenshi to everyone, especially now that they weren't dead. That small bit of light helped brighten the shaded day. Still, seeing Tenshi unhappy hurt more than the burning pain he had felt in his side before she healed him.

Lan sat next to the eight-year-old and put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Everything we thought we knew, it isn't exactly it anymore. I thought that there should be one deity, and that Syrpiektre was the one we should that one deity we believe in. But now, Zergniethil is killing those that can be saved," Tenshi said gloomily.

"Syrpiektre has been the supposed ruler of all the dimensions forever now. We know other dimensions exist, since the Internet was one while Earth was another. We've believed everything that he's done is for the betterment of all, and all these are trials. How is this any different?" Lan said curiously. "I mean, at least it isn't Dekargon and Lervingthis ruling us…"

"Because it goes against everything that's been taught and said!" Tenshi said angrily. "How is it the NetBattlers fault that they have become soulless? It wasn't their choice… and yet they're being killed for that empty decision!"

Lan sat in thought for a moment, taking off his glasses. "But how is it that they can be saved? Their souls are trapped in Lervingthis, and chances are consumed by it."

"I almost saved one. His soul was returning, and then Zergniethil blasted him before he could be saved." Tears of guilt limned her eyes.

"_You_ almost saved one? Without Zergniethil's help?"

Tenshi simply nodded, making Lan remember the wound inflicted by Eugene's sickle.

"You also healed my wound without Zergniethil…"

Tenshi hugged Lan fiercely, burying her face against his chest. "What am I, Daddy?"

"You're exactly what your name means: an angel, and nothing but that."

The mention of angels seemed to disturb Tenshi even further. She suddenly released her embrace and seemed to be at a loss for words. It was as if a sudden pang of memories flooded her and drained her. "I'm **everything** but that…"

Lan gave her an odd look. "What are you talking about?"

Tenshi turned to Lan once more, and said softly, "I guess now would be the time to tell you everything about me."

Lan sighed. "I was intending on letting you keep it secret, because pasts have a way of damaging things."

Tenshi ignored the comment and began. "For as long as I can remember, I was a homeless child, living off basic survival instincts any animal would have. From… I think I was one and until I was three, I lived in one of the alleys in ACDC. I stayed with a mute woman, who couldn't speak or hear, but she knew how the world worked and nurtured me. One day, when I had survived three years, the woman disappeared.

"I went out onto the street, stealing from food vendors to stay alive, until I was seven. Then, I walked down an alley I had never been to before. I found a purple stone there, calling itself Lervingthis, and it beckoned that I be its master. Overnight, I became an early twenty-year-old woman who lived in the outskirts of town, in a mansion fit for ten kings. It taught me how to talk and cultivated my body to the point where men drew glances at every corner and altered my mind to match over the limit in all the IQ tests in existence. I lived in the lap of Luxury. Remember when we went to Marine Harbor to look up your father's records on Zergniethil?"

Lan simply nodded.

"Well, it's like they said. Lervingthis wanted to use its host to manipulate people to create an army and resurrect the 'IceFire Sanctuary'. I…" Tenshi immediately stopped what she was saying, and an air of self-pity washed into the room.

"What? What did you do?" Lan said curiously, trying not to pry.

"I… slept with people to turn them into slaves of Dekargon…" she stuttered out the sentence so quietly Lan had to strain to hear. "Oh god… I'm not Tenshi, I'm Shin. Nothing but darkness…"

She slipped into some sort of a trance, but Lan quickly grabbed her and snapped her out of it. "Tenshi! Come on, Tenshi… You aren't evil! You said it yourself: Lervingthis was only using you! It wasn't your fault!"

"But I conceded! Final decision rested on me, not Lervingthis! The pull was just too strong."

"You didn't know what else to think. You lived on the streets, learning nothing but survival, not civilization. You only knew the crap that Lervingthis fed you. And if you still think it's your fault, I forgive you for it. I live and let live; nothing of what you've done has changed my opinion of you, Tenshi."

Tenshi sat a while, and she seemed a bit at ease from Lan's words. "Thanks, Daddy." She sat quietly for a moment longer, and began again. "Anyway, somehow, I knew that Lervingthis was wrong. So Lervingthis turned a man named Dex into a sadist, and I was first victim."

"That's why you froze up at the battle—" Lan abruptly burst from the bed, as though hit in sudden revelation. "He touched you? The next time—"

"Please, I want to get off that topic. The day after that, I fled. I became seven again, and although I felt nothing of the dark tendencies of Lervingthis, I still retained all the knowledge and memories of my time. I slept and was awoken when I smelled something strange. That was when I was attacked by the mushroom viruses and you saved me."

Lan smiled. "So that's why you talk so smart."

Tenshi blushed and shrugged. "That's probably the only thing Lervingthis gave me that was a good thing."

"So that's why you don't think of yourself as a tenshi? Because of a dark past that you couldn't control?"

Tenshi nodded.

"Well, if you aren't everyone's angel, at least you're mine." Lan pulled her close to him and hugged her warmly. "Well, what do you say we find out who this woman is and unlock your past? Maybe, she'll be able to help us locate your parents."

"Well, all I know is what she looks like and that I was found in a burning building. She did leave a note when she left. It bid farewell and said that my parents would find me, rather than the other way around. Maybe we could start in Marine Harbor?"

"I could check my dad's files again and see what the NetBattler database knows. They kept catalogs of every living being, so there should be something that might be of interest," Lan suggested. "We'll leave tomorrow night. First, I want you to meet some old friends of mine. I mean, the battle and all wasn't the best way to find out they were alive; after all I thought they'd been dead since the fire in ACDC over a year ago. So, tomorrow a formal greeting would be much better."

He smiled, finding Tenshi curled up happily against him, asleep. He tucked her in, as Kael leapt up onto the bed with her. Lan lied down on his own bed, sleeping soundly to the fact that his closest friends hadn't died in the ACDC fire after all.

-END-

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Well, what does this mean for EarthNet/Dual Realms? Okay, for those who remember, Dual Realms was the original title to this series; now I'm changing it to "EarthNet", as "Dual Realms" is a seperate, original story I'm actually currently working on now, available on my website under "The Fates". Now, EarthNet is not cancelled like it used to be. In fact, I want to return to write this story, mostly because of fan support from years past, and the fact that I love these characters and the mood of the storyline. However, I'm not guaranteeing when I will be able to get to it, because right now, Dual Realms is my focus, and my pride.

Do not fret, though, because there is hope. I'm adding a co-writer who will continue this series under my guidance: lugiamania, whose work can also be found here under the same name. I know for sure I won't likely have the time to write it myself, but you can be sure that EarthNet will be the Battle Network epic for a very long time. I've plenty of editting and revising to do, but in time, EarthNet will become a reality.

-----Pyrestrike


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